Boulder City Council is advancing a vacancy tax proposal through its standard legislative process. Separately, a citizen initiative group is collecting signatures for a different vacancy tax design that would go directly to voters. Both tracks could appear on the November 2026 ballot, creating procedural complexity for the city and for the downtown district that would be affected by whichever measure passes.

For city governments watching the citizen-versus-council policy divergence, Boulder is the live experiment. Two parallel tracks, neither coordinated with the other, both potentially appearing on the same November ballot.

Boulder Vacancy Tax Ballot Tracks: Council vs Citizen Initiative
Council track: Legislative process · Citizen initiative: Signature collection · Both could appear on November 2026 ballot
Vacancy Tax Design Comparison: Council vs Citizen Initiative
Council: Residential-only, $2,000 annual · Citizen initiative: Residential + commercial, variable rate · Both targeting vacant properties

Watch

May 27 signature qualification deadline.

Source

Boulder Reporting Lab, March 26, 2026; City of Boulder DDA project page.