Boulder Chamber takes measured approach to 2026 ballot measures.

BOULDER, Colo. -- Following review by its Community Affairs Council and Board of Directors, the Boulder Chamber has announced positions on several significant measures facing Boulder-area voters in the November 2026 election.

The Boulder Chamber will support the Boulder County Early Childhood Care and Education measure and Colorado Connector passenger rail, while opposing the City of Boulder’s proposed $400 million Recreation & Safety Bond and accompanying debt-limit charter amendment, as well as the statewide fentanyl penalties measure.

Taken together, the positions reflect a measured approach to taxes and public investment. Rather than applying a blanket pro-tax or anti-tax philosophy, the Boulder Chamber evaluated each proposal by asking what businesses and taxpayers are being asked to pay, what measurable value they receive in return, whether costs are fairly distributed, and what safeguards exist to ensure public dollars produce results.

“Our members are facing significant cumulative cost pressures, and every new tax or government spending obligation demands a high degree of scrutiny,” said John Tayer, President and CEO of the Boulder Chamber. “That is why, while we are thankful that City staff has responsibly elevated our budget issues for community understanding, the Boulder Chamber can’t support an enormous new infrastructure tax without greater attention to Boulder’s current budget priorities and cost-savings opportunities. We will also oppose criminal enforcement measures that offer attractive solutions but fail to pass muster with our law enforcement

officials and ignore hidden costs. At the same time, failing to address challenges like childcare and regional transportation also carries real costs for employers. We are looking at both sides of the ledger — cost, return, accountability and long-term economic impact.”

SUPPORT: BOULDER COUNTY EARLY CHILDHOOD CARE AND EDUCATION

The Boulder Chamber supports Boulder County’s proposed investment in early childhood care and education while recognizing significant concerns about the disproportionate property tax burden placed on commercial property owners.

That concern was central to the Boulder Chamber’s deliberations. Businesses already face increasing labor, occupancy and operating costs, and additional commercial property taxes cannot be considered in isolation.

However, unreliable childcare also imposes costs on employers.

When employees lose access to dependable childcare, businesses experience absenteeism, missed shifts, scheduling disruptions, reduced productivity and turnover. Those impacts can be particularly significant for small businesses and employers operating with lean staffing.

For the Boulder Chamber, dependable childcare is therefore workforce infrastructure. More reliable childcare can mean more reliable workforce participation, improved employee recruitment and retention, and fewer costly workplace disruptions.

“Our support should not be interpreted as comfort with continually increasing the tax burden on commercial property,” Tayer said. “We recognize that businesses shoulder a disproportionate share of this proposal. In this particular case, however, we also see a meaningful potential return to employers through an investment that secures greater workforce reliability and reduced absenteeism.

The Boulder Chamber will continue advocating for future tax structures that distribute the costs of community investments more equitably.

SUPPORT: COLORADO CONNECTOR / FRONT RANGE PASSENGER RAIL 

The Boulder Chamber supports the proposed Colorado Connector passenger rail investment and associated district sales and use tax.

Regional transportation is fundamentally connected to workforce access and economic competitiveness. Many people who work in Boulder live elsewhere along the Front Range, making reliable regional transportation increasingly important to employers seeking access to talent.

The Boulder Chamber also sees important value in the local-return for the Front Range Passenger Rail -- Colorado Connector tax, which provides participating communities with resources for local transportation and station-area investments to complete FasTracks. For Boulder, those locally returned dollars improve the value proposition: residents and businesses would be supporting a regional transportation system, while a meaningful portion of the investment comes directly back to the Boulder community.

The Boulder Chamber also places significant value on the Colorado Connector funding proposal’s accountability requirements, including ongoing fiscal oversight and reports back to the Colorado General Assembly. Those safeguards distinguish a structured public investment from a blank check.

The Boulder Chamber’s support comes with an expectation of continued transparency around finances, ridership, performance milestones and project delivery, along with protection of Boulder’s existing regional and local bus service.

OPPOSE: CITY OF BOULDER $400 MILLION RECREATION & SAFETY BOND AND DEBT-LIMIT AMENDMENT

The Boulder Chamber recognizes that our community has legitimate infrastructure needs, including aging recreation centers, public-safety facilities and other municipal buildings. However, recognizing a need does not automatically justify a particular funding mechanism.

The Boulder Chamber does not believe the proposed $400 million bond and accompanying debt-limit amendment currently provide sufficient project certainty, prioritization, fiscal safeguards or accountability to justify the scale of borrowing being requested. The Boulder Chamber is particularly concerned about taking on substantial long-term debt before we’ve given sufficient attention to budget prioritization, the potential reallocation of existing taxes, and a demonstrated evaluation of lower-cost investment alternatives.

The Boulder Chamber urges the City of Boulder to take a deeper dive into our current fiscal situation and the opportunity to consider a more strategic holistic approach to addressing our infrastructure needs. Only then would we consider support for further funding mechanisms, more likely in the nature of a smaller, phased and prioritized capital package tied to specific projects and measurable outcomes.

As the compliment to wider spectrum community dialogue regarding our budget challenges, the Boulder Chamber also supports stronger independent oversight of our City’s financial investments. This could take the form of a budget auditor, as outlined in the Boulder Charter, with a focus on assessing program success against performance metrics and implementation efficiency.

OPPOSE: STATEWIDE FENTANYL PENALTIES MEASURE

The Boulder Chamber strongly supports holding fentanyl traffickers and those responsible for distributing deadly drugs accountable. However, the Boulder Chamber opposes the statewide fentanyl penalties measure because of concerns with both its policy design and its fiscal impact.

The proposal would increase criminal penalties and incarceration requirements, creating significant additional costs for Colorado’s corrections system without establishing a dedicated revenue source to pay for them. For the Boulder Chamber, which is a significant concern.

The practical effect is to create a new state spending obligation while leaving the General Assembly to determine how those costs are absorbed within the broader state budget. Those expenditures would then compete with transportation, education, workforce development, economic development, treatment and other priorities.

In that respect, the measure functions much like an unfunded fiscal mandate.

The Boulder Chamber also supports aggressive enforcement against organized trafficking and repeat high-level distribution. But effective public-safety policy should also be targeted, sustainable and evaluated based on results.

That is why the Boulder Chamber joins with local and state law enforcement officials in support of pairing accountability for traffickers with other prevention, treatment, and recovery measures.

A MEASURED STANDARD: COST, RETURN AND ACCOUNTABILITY

The Boulder Chamber’s positions reflect a simple principle: not all taxes are equal, and neither are the investments or obligations they finance.

The Boulder Chamber is asking several questions when evaluating proposals that require additional taxpayer or business resources:

What does it cost? What value comes back? Can the investment reduce costs employers already bear? Do local taxpayers receive a meaningful local return? Is the proposal appropriately scaled? Are reporting, oversight and accountability built in? And are ongoing costs clearly identified and funded?

That framework explains why the Boulder Chamber can support an early childhood measure. Despite concerns about a commercial property tax increase, there is a clear return, knowing that improved childcare access will reduce workforce absenteeism and other employer costs. It also explains support for passenger rail. Regional mobility, paired with local-return dollars and ongoing accountability, is a critical investment in Boulder’s long-term economic vitality.

At the same time, the Boulder chamber stands in opposition to tax and policy proposals when we find that the scale, safeguards or funding structure do not adequately protect businesses and taxpayers.

“We believe public investments should clear a high bar,” Tayer said. “Our members should expect the Boulder Chamber to recognize both the costs businesses pay and the value they receive in return. Where there is clearly discernable return and accountability, we can support the proposed investment. Where there is not, we will be clear in our opposition, while offering a constructive hand in the search of more fiscally prudent and effective solutions.”