How to mark your ballot

Your ballot · November 3, 2026

Niwot appears on your ballot eight times.

Question by question

What each one actually says.

1. Incorporation

   Vote YES

   The question itself: whether Niwot becomes a town. Everything else on this list follows from it — home rule, the commission that writes our charter, and the taxes that let the town do anything once it exists. It does not carry them; each is its own line, and each needs its own yes.

   It will not be at the top of your ballot. State and county races come first, and the Niwot questions run further down the page than most people expect.

   We haven’t transcribed the wording of this question yet, and we would rather leave a gap than paraphrase a legal text. The Committee’s petition page carries the full language.

   You will hear: “They keep saying town. The ballot says city.”

   It does, and that is a size label rather than a description. Colorado classifies a statutory municipality of more than 2,000 people as a “city”, Niwot has 4,306, so the ballot has to use the word the statute uses. It says nothing about what the place is or how it will be run.

   It is also not the last word. The petition says that if the home rule charter is adopted the statutory classification stops applying and the name becomes whatever the charter says — and it records that the community’s preference is “Town of Niwot”. That is one of the things the nine commissioners you elect will settle.

2. Home rule — forming the charter commission

   Vote YES

   A no here limits what the town can do

   This one asks whether a home rule charter commission should be formed. It is its own question, separate from the yes/no that creates the municipality and separate again from the nine people you elect to sit on that commission. The petition asks for all three to be voted on at the same election.

   It is the question a supporter is most likely to miss, and missing it is expensive. You can approve incorporation, vote for all nine commissioners, and skip this line — and the nine would have no commission to sit on and no charter to write. It is the only question here where a yes on the questions either side of it is not enough.

   Without it Niwot would still be incorporated, but it would stay a statutory municipality, run under the state's general municipal code rather than under a charter Niwot writes and Niwot then votes on. Home rule is the part that puts the local rules in local hands.

   We haven’t transcribed the wording of this question yet, and we would rather leave a gap than paraphrase a legal text. The Committee’s petition page carries the full language.

3. The charter commission — and nine people to elect

   Vote for nine

   A no here limits what the town can do

   This is the part almost nobody is expecting: it is not only questions on this ballot, it is a candidate election. Niwot elects nine commissioners on November 3, and they are the people who will write the town’s charter.

   Then the charter comes back to you. The commission drafts it after the election, and Niwot votes again — on the charter itself — before it takes effect. So the answer to “what stops this from changing the character of the place?” is not a promise from anybody. It is two more elections, both of them Niwot’s, plus a board with local land-use authority in the meantime.

   Vote for nine. There is no reason to leave those lines blank, and a seat filled by a handful of votes is a seat filled by a handful of neighbors.

   We haven’t transcribed the wording of this question yet, and we would rather leave a gap than paraphrase a legal text. The Committee’s petition page carries the full language.

4. Sales & use tax

   Vote YES

   A no here limits what the town can do

   This is the town’s main source of revenue, and the reason incorporation costs a household far less than a roads-only special district would. A sales tax is paid by every shopper and visitor who spends a dollar in Niwot, not only by the people who live here.

   It does not start until January 1, 2028. Nothing appears on your bill next year.

   As written in the petition

   SHALL NIWOT TAXES BE INCREASED BY $2,800,000 ANNUALLY IN THE FIRST FULL FISCAL YEAR, AND BY WHATEVER ADDITIONAL AMOUNTS ARE RAISED ANNUALLY THEREAFTER FROM A SALES AND USE TAX IMPOSED AT THE RATE OF TWO AND ONE-HALF PERCENT (2.5%), COMMENCING ON JANUARY 1, 2028, FOR THE PURPOSE OF FUNDING CAPITAL IMPROVEMENTS AND RELATED OPERATIONAL EXPENDITURES, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO DEBT REPAYMENT, AND ANY LAWFUL MUNICIPAL PURPOSE WITH (I) THE SALES TAX TO BE IMPOSED ON THE SALE OF TANGIBLE PERSONAL PROPERTY AND TAXABLE SERVICES, EXCEPT FOR FOOD FOR DOMESTIC CONSUMPTION AND SUCH OTHER CATEGORIES TO BE EXEMPT AS DETERMINED BY THE GOVERNING BODY OF THE MUNICIPALITY, AND (II) THE USE TAX TO BE IMPOSED ON THE PRIVILEGE OF STORING, USING, OR CONSUMING TANGIBLE PERSONAL PROPERTY IN NIWOT, INCLUDING CONSTRUCTION AND BUILDING MATERIALS, WITH ALL SUCH TAXES TO BE ESTABLISHED BY ORDINANCE OF THE GOVERNING BODY OF THE MUNICIPALITY PRIOR TO THE IMPOSITION OF THE SALES AND USE TAX AND CONSISTENT WITH THIS BALLOT MEASURE; AND SHALL NIWOT BE AUTHORIZED TO COLLECT, RETAIN, AND SPEND ALL REVENUES FROM SUCH TAXES AND ALL EARNINGS THEREON AS A VOTER APPROVED REVENUE CHANGE UNDER ARTICLE X, SECTION 20 OF THE STATE CONSTITUTION?

   The wording the petition asks be put on the ballot. Boulder County certifies the final ballot; if it differs, we’ll publish what is certified.

5. Property tax

   Vote YES

   A no here limits what the town can do

   The four mills pay for running the town — the ballot language says “operational and maintenance costs.” Roads and other capital work are what the sales tax is for. How the two compare on any one household’s bill depends on the home’s value and how much the household spends in Niwot. For comparison, a roads-only special district covering one neighborhood runs about 33 mills — every one of them collected from homeowners, for the pavement alone.

   As written in the petition

   SHALL NIWOT TAXES BE INCREASED BY $900,000 ANNUALLY IN THE FIRST FULL FISCAL YEAR, AND BY SUCH ADDITIONAL AMOUNTS RAISED ANNUALLY THEREAFTER BY AN AD VALOREM PROPERTY TAX MILL LEVY IMPOSED AT THE RATE OF FOUR (4) MILLS FOR THE PURPOSE OF MEETING OPERATIONAL AND MAINTENANCE COSTS; AND SHALL THE REVENUE FROM SUCH MILL LEVY CONSTITUTE A VOTER APPROVED REVENUE CHANGE UNDER ARTICLE X, SECTION 20 OF THE STATE CONSTITUTION AND AN EXCEPTION TO THE LIMITATION SET FORTH IN SECTION 29-1-301 OF THE COLORADO REVISED STATUTES?

   The wording the petition asks be put on the ballot. Boulder County certifies the final ballot; if it differs, we’ll publish what is certified.

6. Retail marijuana tax

   Vote YES

   A tax the town would levy if such sales occur within its boundaries. Like the sales tax, it commences January 1, 2028.

   As written in the petition

   SHALL NIWOT TAXES BE INCREASED BY $60,000 ANNUALLY IN THE FIRST FULL FISCAL YEAR, AND BY SUCH AMOUNTS AS ARE RAISED ANNUALLY THEREAFTER, FROM A MARIJUANA SPECIAL SALES TAX IMPOSED AT THE RATE OF THREE PERCENT (3.0%), COMMENCING ON JANUARY 1, 2028, ON THE SALE OF RETAIL MARIJUANA AND RETAIL MARIJUANA PRODUCTS TO CONSUMERS, RETAIL MARIJUANA STORES, OR RETAIL MARIJUANA PRODUCT MANUFACTURERS, AS AUTHORIZED BY STATE LAW, IN ADDITION TO ANY OTHER SALES TAXES LEVIED BY NIWOT, WITH ALL SUCH TAXES TO BE ESTABLISHED BY ORDINANCE OF THE GOVERNING BODY OF THE MUNICIPALITY PRIOR TO THE IMPOSITION OF THE MARIJUANA SPECIAL SALES TAX AND CONSISTENT WITH THIS BALLOT MEASURE; AND SHALL NIWOT BE AUTHORIZED TO COLLECT, RETAIN, AND SPEND ALL REVENUES FROM SUCH TAXES AND ALL EARNINGS THEREON AS A VOTER APPROVED REVENUE CHANGE UNDER ARTICLE X, SECTION 20 OF THE STATE CONSTITUTION?

   The wording the petition asks be put on the ballot. Boulder County certifies the final ballot; if it differs, we’ll publish what is certified.

7. Revenue retention

   Vote YES

   A no here limits what the town can do

   Colorado’s TABOR caps how much revenue a government may keep in a year, and refunds the rest. This question waives that cap for the new town.

   Almost every Colorado municipality has passed a version of this, for a plain reason: without it a town can be forced to refund money in a good year while the work it was collected for goes unfunded.

   As written in the petition

   SHALL NIWOT BE AUTHORIZED TO RETAIN AND SPEND THE FULL AMOUNT OF ALL REVENUE COLLECTED FROM ALL SOURCES NOT OTHERWISE EXCLUDED FROM FISCAL YEAR SPENDING, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO STATE AND LOCAL GRANTS, FEES AND CHARGES, SALES AND USE TAXES, AND PROPERTY TAXES, COMMENCING IN 2027 AND EACH SUBSEQUENT YEAR, WITHOUT REGARD TO ANY STATE REVENUE OR EXPENDITURE LIMITATION INCLUDING THE LIMITATION CONTAINED IN ARTICLE X, SECTION 20 OF THE STATE CONSTITUTION?

   The wording the petition asks be put on the ballot. Boulder County certifies the final ballot; if it differs, we’ll publish what is certified.

   You will hear: “They’re voting themselves out of TABOR.”

   Half true, and the half that is true matters. What this waives is the revenue cap — the town’s ability to keep what the approved taxes bring in. What it does not touch is your vote on the rates: raising a tax rate still requires an election, TABOR or no TABOR.

   We would rather say both halves of that than only the reassuring one. A campaign that publishes the comfortable half of a fact gets called evasive, and deserves it.

8. Debt authorization for the roads

   Vote YES

   This is what makes it possible to fix the roads now rather than a few blocks a year for two decades. Borrowing $15 million brings every Niwot road above a pavement condition of 70 by 2029.

   The bonds are revenue bonds, repaid from sales-tax revenue. They are not a second charge on your property tax.

   As written in the petition

   SHALL NIWOT DEBT BE INCREASED UP TO $15 MILLION, WITH A MAXIMUM REPAYMENT COST UP TO $28 MILLION, FOR THE PURPOSE OF FUNDING THE REPAIR, RECONSTRUCTION, IMPROVEMENT, AND MAINTENANCE OF STREETS, ROADS, BRIDGES, DRAINAGE, SIDEWALKS, AND RELATED TRANSPORTATION INFRASTRUCTURE WITHIN THE MUNICIPALITY; SUCH DEBT TO BE EVIDENCED BY THE ISSUANCE OF REVENUE BONDS OR OTHER FINANCIAL OBLIGATIONS PAYABLE FROM SALES AND USE TAX REVENUES IF SUCH TAXES ARE APPROVED BY SEPARATE BALLOT MEASURE, TO BE ISSUED AT SUCH TIMES AND PRICES (AT, ABOVE OR BELOW PAR) AND IN SUCH MANNER AND CONTAINING SUCH TERMS CONSISTENT HEREWITH AS THE GOVERNING BODY OF THE MUNICIPALITY MAY DETERMINE; AND SHALL THE PROCEEDS OF SUCH DEBT AND ANY INVESTMENT EARNINGS THEREON CONSTITUTE A VOTER-APPROVED REVENUE CHANGE UNDER ARTICLE X, SECTION 20 OF THE STATE CONSTITUTION?

   The wording the petition asks be put on the ballot. Boulder County certifies the final ballot; if it differs, we’ll publish what is certified.

   You will hear: “Twenty-eight million dollars.”

   That number is real, it is on the ballot in capital letters, and it is the total cost of repaying $15 million of borrowing over the life of the bonds — principal plus interest, the same way a mortgage costs more than the house.

   Two things about it. It is repaid from sales tax, so it is not a charge on your property tax. And the alternative to borrowing is not zero: the same roads cost about $22 million to fix if we wait until 2034, and about $33 million by 2040. Waiting is the expensive option, and it is the one that arrives with no plan attached.

The part nobody expects

You are also electing nine people.

One more thing worth knowing

Nothing appears on your bill until 2028.

Make it count

Vote it all the way down.