Denver ballot measure would assess fee on homeowners to fund sidewalks

Ballots in Colorado's midterm election are in the mail and, in addition to several statewide measures and races, there are 140 local ballot issues, including a Denver measure to fund sidewalks.

There are approximately 2,300 miles of sidewalks within Denver, including 300 miles of missing sidewalks and 830 miles of narrow sidewalks.

Ordinance 307 would assess a fee on homeowners to pay for construction, repairs and maintenance.

Manuel Castillo has lived in Southwest Denver for 45 years and he'll be the first to tell you the city's sidewalks have seen better days, but while he wants them repaired as much as the next guy, he says he shouldn't be the guy to foot the bill.

"I'm paying taxes now and then an added burden, that's just not fair." 

The burden will fall disproportionately on homeowners like Castillo who have corner lots with a lot of sidewalk. Under the ballot measure, the city will impose a fee of between $2 and $4 dollars a linear foot.  

Castillo estimates he has about 280 linear feet of sidewalk, which would mean he'd pay between $560 and $1,120 a year in sidewalk fees, "I've been retired for 20 years now and it seems like everything is going up and then something like this, that's a setback." 

Supporters of the measure say sidewalk repairs are already the homeowner's responsibility and they would cost less under the ballot measure.

Jill Locantore with Denver Deserves Sidewalks says the average homeowner will pay $100 a year. Opponents argue it will be closer to $200 a year and fees would go up every five years. Those on fixed incomes could defer payments until their homes are sold and those in low-income areas would get a 20% discount but people who've already paid for repairs to their sidewalks would not get a break.

"It's kind of like an insurance fee," says Locantore. "You pay a very small amount over time and you never have to worry if the sidewalk needs to be repaired, the city is going to take care of it for you." 

She says 40% of the city's streets have no sidewalks or sidewalks too narrow for strollers or wheelchairs, "You know this is really about what kind of city do we want to live in? Do we want to be inclusive of older adults and kids or people with disabilities? Do we want to be able to walk to our neighborhood grocery store and coffee shop and park? Are we willing to all chip in and  provide the funding needed to provide this very basic necessity of Denver neighborhoods?"

"It's an unequal tax," said Castillo. 

Castillo says if the fee were applied equally he could live with it, but it's not and he says that's not fair, "Next thing they're going to say we're going to tax everyone to paint your house."

The city says it will take nearly 30 years to build out the entire network of sidewalks and it will cost $3 to $7 billion more than the measure is expected to generate. Supporters dispute that saying Ordinance 307 will bring in enough money to build and repair all sidewalks in nine years and maintain them after that.