Up to $900M in bond measures?

Denver’s fall ballot efforts asking voters to OK borrowing for projects has grown.

Denver’s planned fall ballot measures asking voters to approve borrowing for city projects could grow to as much as $900 million because of new tax assessments, a city finance official said Tuesday.

The new projected range — $800 million to $900 million — detailed by Denver’s chief financial officer, Brendan Hanlon, is a heady increase from the $500 million to $600 million in projected bond capacity previously cited by Mayor Michael Hancock’s administration.

But that was before metro-area assessors released new property valuations Tuesday. On tap are double-digit increases in valuations for median properties of all categories in Denver, including nearly 26 percent for the median single-family home.

City officials say they’re aiming to ask voters in November to simply extend the same property tax rate used to repay the previous package of bond projects, approved in 2007. But the skyrocketing property values mean the same rate would raise more money from most property owners.

The new projection is probably welcome news for committees of Denver civic leaders and neighborhood advocates. For weeks, they have scrutinized long lists of potential transportation, parks, safety, cultural and municipal building projects, each one backed by fans in city government and the community.

Those five panels are weighing priorities for road projects and bike lanes, long-sought libraries and recreation centers, new police and fire stations, and other needs large and small. Some eligible projects essentially pit neighborhoods against one another, with boosters of the River North Art District building support for a mile-long river promenade park, while lower-income Westwood residents plead for a recreation center.

The higher target range for the massive bond issue could allow for the building of more projects.

But another consideration will face an executive committee that in coming weeks will cull the five subcommittees’ list of recommended projects — as well as Hancock and the City Council:

Would voters approve such a big price tag?

After all, even if the proposed tax rate for the bonds remains the same in the new 10-year bond plan, homeowners facing higher tax bills because of soaring property values may perceive the bond measures as a tax increase.

“We’ve seen some historic growth numbers,” Hanlon told The Denver Post. “I think we just want to be cautious and make sure they’re sustainable. … There’s going to be a greater affordability conversation that I’m sure we’ll be having

— especially for those (lower-income) neighborhoods that have seen the steepest increases.”

Hanlon said the revised projection for bonding capacity takes into account the new property valuations. Those cover a twoyear period through June 2016 and will be used as the basis for 2018 tax bills.

The projection also considers the effect of the state “Gallagher amendment” that requires adjustments between commercial and residential values, delivering some tax relief to homeowners.

Hanlon has been briefing council members about the new projection and presented the information to the 2017 bond issue executive committee Tuesday evening.

Later this spring, that committee will take a stab at recommending a complete bond package. After review by the mayor, the council will have a say and then will vote to place the bond measures on the November ballot.

For that last round, the project total was $550 million. Hanlon estimated that would cost $671 million in today’s dollars, accounting for inflation and other measures of purchasing power.

But there will be key considerations for the bond executive committee and for city officials, he said. Those include fiscal responsibility — and the size of the city’s debt burden — as well as rising construction costs in the active Denver market because of labor shortages, which will make each project more costly.

The project wish list, based on the city’s six-year plan for capital-improvement needs and community suggestions, amounts to nearly $3 billion, officials say. That includes most but not all of an estimated $789 million in deferred maintenance for city facilities.

Hancock has directed his administration to balance those needs, said Tykus Holloway, the mayor’s deputy chief projects officer.

But the mayor also has made clear that he wants a heavy share of transportation and mobility projects included.

Hanlon said the bond subcommittees are on the right track, no matter the eventual price tag for the bond measures.

“We asked them to rank and prioritize, and that’s what they’re doing,” he said. “It just gives the folks on the executive bond committee, as well as the mayor and City Council, a little bit more ability to satisfy the many demands that are in front of us.”