Mayor Stumps for Tax-Based Ballot Measure Needed for $570 Million Downtown Investment

During his most recent town hall, Mayor Mike Johnston stumped for a ballot measure that would generate an estimated $570 million in tax revenue to improve downtown over the next fifteen years and expand the investment area. Johnston also entertained ideas for how to use those tax dollars during a public meeting at Union Station's Webb Gallery on Thursday, August 1.

"This is, I think, the most exciting moment to be living and working and playing downtown in a quarter-century," Johnston told a crowd of more than seventy residents. "We're about to launch what would be the largest investment in downtown Denver in this city's history."

Johnston first revealed his $500 million plan to revitalize downtown in early May, but that planned investment increased by $70 million after the city updated revenue growth forecasts from Union Station, says Laura Swartz, spokesperson for Denver's Finance Department. If approved in November by voters who live or own a business downtown, the measure would renew property and sales taxes that go to the Denver Downtown Development Authority (DDDA).

The city estimates that about 2,500 people will be eligible to vote on the tax on November 5 because they live or own a business in a small area of downtown that closely surrounds Union Station. But before the measure can make it to the ballot, it needs Denver City Council to approve putting it there. A discussion is scheduled for Tuesday, August 6, with the council's Finance & Governance committee.



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