Boulder City Council
There is no council meeting this week due to BVSD and CU spring break.
On April 3, council will:
- Present findings from the city’s Affordable Housing Nexus Study, which examines the impact of single-family home expansions and demolitions on the cost of housing in the city.
Because demolishing homes to replace them and significant home expansions are not considered “new” residential development, this type of development is not regulated by Boulder’s Inclusionary Housing laws, which requires new builds to either contribute affordable housing or pay into funding for it. The 2024 study aims to inform council on establishing fees for residential demolition/expansion projects in the future.
Boulder County Commissioners
On March 27, commissioners will:
- Hold a public hearing on over $12 million of proposed Quarter 1 budget amendment requests.
The largest impact stands with the General Fund, with requests totaling nearly $5.9 million. This includes $407,919 to the County Attorney’s office for three full-time employment positions and funding for outside legal counsel to address additional work stemming from the creation of the Boulder County Employee’s Union (BCEU), such as collective bargaining negotiations.
The Sheriff’s Office is also requesting an amendment for an additional $2.3 million to hire 25 full-time employees to staff the new booking wing of Boulder County Jail. The money is from the same ballot measure that is funding the county’s Alternative Sentencing Facility.
The new space adds roughly 60 beds to the jail, requiring more employees to staff, said county communications specialist Jennifer Churchill. According to notes shared with commissioners, the new staff will help get “significantly closer to full activation of the new space” which will “reduce overcrowding and eventually return to in-person visitation.”
In-person visitation at the county jail has been suspended indefinitely, according to the county’s website. Visitors can schedule video calls for .05 cents a minute for up to 30 minutes.
The in-person meeting begins at 9 a.m. Attend virtually: bit.ly/BoCoMarch27BW
On April 2, commissioners will:
- Host the Consortium of Cities meeting, where they will discuss trash, recycling and composting within the county and receive updates on progress toward raising the regional minimum wage, an effort that stalled out last fall after the City of Boulder was the sole municipality to move forward with a bill to raise local wages.
Longmont City Council
On March 25, council:
- Held a discussion to determine a new way of allocating money from the city’s Human Services Funding Program.
Longmont Human Services, which provides funding for local agencies and programs, has seen a steady increase in requests for funding since 2021. While the department’s budget has increased to 3% of the general fund, allowing it to support more programs and agencies, Human Services reported a funding gap of $1 million in both 2023 and 2024.
“We’re… just seeing a growth in the amount of need,” said Human Services Manager Eliberto Mendoza, citing rising costs of housing and food insecurity.
Currently, funds are allocated based on priorities with assigned percentages as guidelines. However, this approach led to several areas being overfunded or underfunded, according to city staff.
After deliberating two models — one of which keeps the original model with the addition of hard ceilings on requests, and the other funds select programs each year on a three-year cycle — council directed staff to return with a hybrid model that would not leave programs unfunded for the next two years.
The new model will be discussed during an April 19 Human Services special board meeting, and a final decision is expected by early May.
All agenda items subject to change.