On Tuesday, voters in the Baker and Speer neighborhoods narrowly approved the formation of a Broadway General Improvement District, essentially authorizing a tax on themselves — both residents and businesses. The GID will generate funds for neighborhood improvements and shared projects, including graffiti removal and the Broadway Halloween Parade.
“This is about investing in our own future,” said council member Flor Alvidrez, who represents the neighborhood. “Broadway has always had community pride, creativity, and strong cultural character. Now we have a structure that allows those qualities to flourish for years to come.”
The new GID is projected to have around $1.2 million at its disposal in 2026, according to the Denver Business Journal.
In a surprisingly close vote, 51.5% of voters were in favor of the property tax increase, according to Luke Johnson, president of the Broadway Merchants Association. His organization both supported the change and, in an unusual move, paid for the election.
Why weren’t these results reported like the rest of the local election results?
The City of Denver does not run these types of special elections, according to Johnson, who also owns Luke & Company Fine Pet Supply on Broadway. “I wish they did, as it would save the taxpayers a lot of money and hassle.”
Denver election judges oversaw the election, but Johnson says the Broadway Merchants Association had to pay for it themselves. They contracted a separate firm to send out 1,200 ballots. Johnson says that the 261 returned — in other words, a 21.75% voter turnout — is normal for this kind of election.
Why was it so close?
Obviously, voters made their own decision. But Johnson theorizes that TABOR is to blame.
He says that one of the Taxpayers Bill of Rights’ provisions required the BMA to break the GID approval vote into three separate questions, which voters decided on very differently. “If we could have said what we wanted to say (without the TABOR requirements) I have no doubt that we would have seen 70%+ approval across all questions.”
Here’s how the full results break down:
Question 1) Whether to assess an 8.96 mill property tax to fund the proposed GID — 51.5% yes votes
Question 2) Whether or not to authorize debt (this likely means an operating capital line of credit) — 60.4% yes votes
Question 3) Whether to authorize the GID and simultaneously dissolve the Local Maintenance Districts that it will replace — 69.3% yes votes
“I think we could have done a better job explaining to voters that the entire proposal only works if they vote yes on all three,” Johnson says. “Question 3 is reflective of people actually wanting change, which is important. Question 2 on the ballot only proposes a large dollar figure of debt and doesn’t allow us to explain that it's just for operating capital to keep the GID going in the event that the city funds are delayed (which has been known to happen).”
We’ll be updating this story and talking more about what happened on the City Cast Denver podcast soon. So, we want to hear from you!
Did you vote in this election? Why did you vote the way you did?
