Denver Mayor Mike Johnston’s proposed now-$935 million bond package will go to the full City Council for potential placement on the ballot this fall after a committee advanced it Tuesday.
As structured, nearly half of the proposed bond would pay for transportation, mobility and road safety projects, while about 25% would go toward improvements for city buildings and cultural facilities. Parks and recreation projects account for nearly 20% of the total. Further changes are still possible.
A couple of the proposed big-ticket items — for repairs, improvements and other work on the aging Sixth and Eighth avenue viaducts over Burnham Yard — would direct nearly $140 million in spending near one potential site for a new Denver Broncos stadium. That was among points that generated discussion during Tuesday’s committee meeting.
The 13-member council will take a first look at the Vibrant Denver bond package on Monday. It’s designed to provide a six-year funding stream for parks, transportation projects, health and human services programs, city facilities — new and existing — and housing and shelter efforts.
A final decision on whether to give voters a say on the measure is slated for Aug. 4.
“I think it is ready,” Councilman Darrell Watson said. “And we do not have time to delay this anymore.”
Watson, who represents District 9 in northern Denver, cautioned his colleagues against increasing the funding request from voters any further. Earlier this year, the prevailing estimate on the package’s size was $800 million.
“Nine-hundred-thirty-five million dollars is, I think, an extraordinary amount,” he said.
The Finance and Business Committee’s vote tally on Tuesday was 6-1, with Councilman Chris Hinds casting the lone no vote.
Some council unease about list
The meeting revealed fundamental unease — and some disagreement — among council members about which projects and which communities the city should prioritize for funding.
Hinds, who represents a central swath of the city, asked why improvements to East 13th and 14th avenues — between Broadway and Quebec Street — weren’t on the project list, given the number of accidents that happen on the one-way thoroughfares.
“I’m going to vote no because I don’t think this is ready,” he said.
Council President Amanda Sandoval spoke about the need to direct money to the West 38th Avenue corridor, where on Monday night a cyclist was killed by a hit-and-run driver near Tejon Street. The bond list includes about $55 million for multimodal and pedestrian safety improvements on 38th, from Sheridan Boulevard east to Fox Street.
But she worried that competition for Vibrant Denver funding could spur unwanted disputes between historically underserved neighborhoods.
“I do not want to pit Black communities against Brown communities,” Sandoval said.
Councilwoman Sarah Parady asked Patrick Riley, the bond program manager with Denver’s Department of Finance, whether improvements to the Sixth and Eighth avenue viaducts were getting big billing in the bond package because of the potential plans of the Broncos’ ownership nearby.
“It is impossible to ignore the Broncos as a thing in Denver,” Riley acknowledged. “So telling you that there’s no weight there, or that there’s no consideration there, would be insulting to everybody at this table.”
But he also said the condition of the viaducts has long been the subject of discussion and that work on them is an “independent need.”
The most expensive project listed is $89 million for the Eighth Avenue viaduct, including replacement of some of it with an at-grade road. Another $50 million would go to repairs and improvements on the Sixth Avenue viaduct.
What’s on the list?
Johnston announced the Vibrant Denver initiative in February. But getting council members and the mayor to see eye to eye on what should be funded, and at what level, has been a bumpy road in recent weeks.
In all, there are 59 projects listed for funding. Other high-cost items include $75 million for a newly consolidated first responder training center. Another $75 million would go toward making road improvements and building a railroad underpass at the National Western Center.
The buildout of a park on the former Park Hill golf course property would be allocated $70 million. Support for affordable housing projects by the city’s private partners would receive $50 million.
And Red Rocks Amphitheatre is identified to receive $39 million for backstage expansion and accessibility improvements. Riley pointed out that the iconic concert venue in Jefferson County essentially subsidizes Denver’s arts scene.
“Our arts and cultural health exists because Red Rocks allows it to,” he said.
Other notable projects include improvements at Boettcher Concert Hall, replacement of a Denver Health family clinic in west Denver, replacement of the Sixth Avenue and Lincoln Street bridges over Cherry Creek at Speer Boulevard, and renovations of the Denver Animal Shelter, the Montbello Branch Library and the Blair-Caldwell African American Research Library.
Changes to the list in recent weeks — in response to council concerns — included more than a dozen projects added. At the same time, a project at the Denver Zoo was reduced from $50 million to $3 million, and a project for the Denver Museum of Nature and Science also took a hit, going from $10 million to $3 million.
Denver’s most recent bond programs were Elevate Denver, a 10-year, $937 million general obligation bond package approved by voters in 2017, and RISE Denver, a five-year, $260 million program approved in 2021 — both of which still have projects underway or in the queue.
The city says the bonds issued under Vibrant Denver wouldn’t result in a property tax increase because they’d replace earlier debt as it was paid off.
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