How things get done in Niwot

Thirty years ago Niwot's 2nd Avenue was a mess whenever it rained or snowed. No curb and gutter, no streetlights, and nowhere for moisture to drain. As an unincorporated community, the downtown business district had no tax revenue or funding mechanism for basic infrastructure projects.

In the early 1990s a small group of local commercial property owners approached Boulder County officials seeking a solution. Anne Dyni, who with her husband Jack owned the former blacksmith building (now occupied by Few of a Kind) and the Niwot post office building, Jim Knoch, who with his wife Erma owned the Niwot Emporium property, Chris Finger, who owned a piano store (now occupied by Niwot Wheel Works) and Euvaldo Valdez, who with his wife Helen owned the Left Hand Corner property, met with County Commissioner Ron Stewart and County Transportation Director Clark Misner.

After months of talks and studies, they came up with a plan to form a local improvement district in Niwot that would encompass the downtown commercial area and Cottonwood Square Shopping Center at the southeast corner of 79th Street and Niwot Road. The district would levy a 0.5% sales tax on all retail sales, except basic food products.

The proposal was put to a vote of all commercial property owners in the district and the few residents who lived within the boundaries. The only property excluded from the district was the building on the corner of 79th Street and Niwot Road, which was then an office building under separate ownership from Cottonwood Square. Voters overwhelmingly approved the formation of the district in the fall of 1992, and the maximum 0.5% sales tax allowed by law took effect in 1993.

Boulder County agreed to pay one-third of the cost of a downtown drainage system, curb and gutter, and streetlights. The newly formed Niwot Business Association (NBA) agreed to pay the monthly electrical cost, and a bonded indebtedness was incurred by the local improvement district (LID) to cover the other two-thirds of the cost, which was approximately $740,000, including the interest on the bond..

The improvements were constructed, the business district began paying off the bond, and Niwot's downtown no longer had small lakes near Left Hand Grange Hall and the Left Hand Corner property after a rain.

As the bond debt gradually diminished, the NBA looked into other possible ways to use the sales tax revenue, but the state statute governing local improvement districts only allowed funds to be used for public improvements. Rob Levkulic, a partner with Diane Atwood in Niwot Antiques at the time, began working with state legislator Alice Madden to amend the law to allow revenues to be used for "production and distribution of informational products and materials" to market the town and its merchants.

In 2002 they were successful in passing an amendment expanding the possible uses of the sales tax revenues. There was only one problem – the law still capped the tax rate at 0.5%, and the bond had several years to go before it would be paid off.

When they went back to the legislature seeking another amendment to increase the sales tax cap to 1% (if approved by local voters), Governor Bill Owens signaled that he would not approve the change, deeming it a tax increase.

As a result, many events in Niwot continued to be funded by dues collected by the NBA, and by donations from local merchants, including Pat Murphy's Great Pumpkin Party and the annual Easter Egg Hunt.

In 2007 Bill Ritter became governor and the NBA representatives worked to get legislative approved of an amendment allowing an increase in the sales tax rate to a full 1% if approved by voters. The voters in the Niwot Local Improvement District (LID) approved the increase in the fall of 2007, and the new tax rate took effect in 2008. Even though the bond for the drainage, curb and streetlight improvements had not yet been paid off, the Boulder County Commissioners allowed the additional half-percent of tax revenue to be used for marketing and other public improvements.

To assist the commissioners in considering funding proposals, the Niwot LID Advisory Committee was established in 2008, with its nine members appointed by the commissioners. Although the tax revenues must be used for the benefit of the Niwot business district, the commissioners included three Niwot residents and a representative of the Niwot Community Association on the advisory committee along with an NBA representative and four business or commercial property owners. Original members were Tony Santelli (NBA), Ann May (NCA), Euvaldo Valdez (Business), Robin Abb (Business), Harris Faberman (Business), Bruce Warren (Business), Lane Landrith (Resident), Carrie Wise (Resident) and Jim Eastman (Resident).

In 2012, NBA representatives and Leslie Irwin from the Boulder County Commissioners' office went back to the state legislature seeking to amend the LID statute again. This time, the statute was amended to allow properties to be added to the LID boundaries, and to allow the LID to fund events directly. Later, the former Lucky Pie restaurant building, which had originally been excluded from the LID, and the Left Hand Animal Hospital building on Third Avenue were added to the LID.

By December 2010 the original bond was finally paid off, and the full 1% of sales tax revenue was available for other LID projects. Those projects have included the Niwot gateway sign on Highway 119, the mural on the side of the former Excel Electric building, flowers throughout the business district, and numerous events, including the Rock & Rails concert series, Enchanted Evening, the July 4th parade, Let's Wine About Winter, the Why Not Niwot? Juried art show, and music on the streets. The most recent major expenditure has been the purchase and development of the new parking lot along Murray Street.

LID revenues went over the $200,000 mark in 2020 in spite of the pandemic. Although anyone can submit a funding request to the LID, most proposals come from the NBA, with a few coming from the Niwot Community Association and the Niwot Cultural Arts Association. Current members of the LID Advisory Committee are Laura Skaggs (chair), Bruce Rabeler (Treasurer), Eric Bergeson (NBA), Camilla Sawle (business), Scott Firle (resident), Mary Coonce (business), Lisa Rivard (resident), Biff Warren (business) and newly appointed member Heidi Storz (resident) who replaces term-limited resident Jim Eastman.

Mark Ruzzin of the commissioners' office is the Boulder County liaison to the LID. Meetings are held on the first Tuesday of each month at 7 p.m., currently by Zoom, and at the Niwot Fire Station when restrictions on gatherings are lifted.