- Meeting Agenda (appears after the Study Session)
- Watch the meeting streaming live starting at 5:45PM
- Attend the meeting @ City Hall Council Chambers - 911 10th Street - (map)
- Send comments on any of the following topics to PublicComments@cityofgolden.net BEFORE 3PM, or
- Provide in-person comment (limited to 3 minutes) during the appropriate public hearing beginning at 5:45PM.
Background
The Golden Downtown Improvement District (GDID) was originally formed in 1959. At that time, downtown had very little parking, and the businesses felt they were losing customers to places that could offer easy, free parking. The new District collected a special tax from downtown property owners to be used for acquiring and maintaining parking lots.
A group of residential property owners sued to have the tax removed, because they had no need or desire for parking lots. The suit went to the Colorado Supreme Court, where the residential owners won. The tax was refunded to those who had paid it.
In 1963, a new Downtown Improvement District was formed. This time, they omitted most of the residential property.
Over the next few decades, the District acquired several pieces of land,which were turned into free parking lots. Their greatest controversy occurred in the early 1970s,when they acquired the Astor House and planned to demolish it to create more parking. The Golden Landmarks Association formed at that time, and successfully campaigned to preserve the building.
At some point (I'm not sure when), their name changed to Golden Downtown General Improvement District (GDGID). The GDGID Directors are the members of City Council, and they meet a minimum of once a year, generally the first meeting in December.
Paid Parking
The introduction of paid parking in 2017 brought a new revenue stream to the GDGID budget. The more recent addition of paid on-street parking added more revenue, and hiring an outside firm to monitor parking and write tickets has turned parking into a cash cow.
In 2021, the city made $57,738 from the parking pay stations and $0 from parking violation fines.
In 2024, they expect to make $180,000 from the pay stations and $270,000 from parking violation fines.
What to do with all that money?
The first agenda item will be a budget amendment which will allow the GDGID to transfer $200,000 to the City's General Fund.
The second agenda item is approving the budget for 2025. They expect to make even more on paid parking and parking violations next year, and anticipate transferring up to $260,000 to the General Fund.
The GDGID's revenues have grown from $164,375 in 2021 to $675,400 projected for 2025.
The third and final item is setting the property tax mill levy for 2025. This has grown more gradually, due to TABOR constraints. The tax revenue was $41,496 in 2021 and is projected to be $52,000 in 2025.
All three of these topics will have public hearings, so you will be able to contribute public comment.
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