Boulder Budget - Sales Tax
October 16, 2025
Boulder sales tax revenue is flat and is anticipated to decline in coming years.
Traditionally sales tax has been the largest source of discretionary revenue in the city budget, funding a broad range of programs. In recent years sales tax growth has slowed peaking in 2023.
Data provided by the city [1] shows revenue by location. Graph 1 shows sales/use tax collections:
- Inside the city of Boulder peaking in 2022 at $86.2M
- Outside the city (online, catalog and other sales) rising 86% to $51.5M in 2024.
- In Gunbarrel - peaking in 2023 at $8M
- From the County Clerk (auto sales) - flat at $6M
- All other Boulder rising 47% to $14M
For a city like Boulder that has traditionally been a regional retail hub, to have declining sales within the city is a troubling trend. There are several causes that are worth considering:
- The loss of businesses due to changes in land use that pushes housing into areas previously zoned for commercial and industrial.
- Changes to transportation and land use that drive consumers out of the city
- Social issues that make shopping in Boulder a less desirable proposition.
- The transition from brick and mortar to online shopping.
In the face of declining sales tax the city is on a path to create new funding sources through fees on property instead of consumption. The 2026 budget proposes a Transportation Maintenance Fee.
Graph 1 - Sales/use tax 2017 to 2024.
| Location | Change | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Downtown Extension | -73% | |
| Unlicensed Receipts | -28% | |
| Downtown | -22% | |
| North Broadway | -19% | |
| Gunbarrel Industrial | -16% | |
| 29th Street | -15% | |
| Table Mesa | -8% | |
| East Downtown | -7% | |
| UHGID (the "hill") | -1% | |
| BVRC-Boulder Valley Regional Center | 6% | |
| Boulder Industrial | 6% | |
| Basemar | 7% | |
| Pearl Street Mall | 8% | |
| N. Broadway Annex | 9% | |
| N. 28th St Commercial | 10% | |
| Gunbarrel Commercial | 16% | |
| Boulder County | 16% | In county sales |
| County Clerk | 20% | Automobile Sales |
| The Meadows | 21% | |
| Public Utilities | 22% | Phone, power, cable & trash |
| Metro Denver | 43% | Sales outside the city |
| Colorado All Other | 46% | In state sales |
| All Other Boulder | 47% | |
| Out of State | 107% | Online Sales |
| CU | 280% | |
| Airport | 423% |
Table 1 - Change in sales/use tax collection from 2019 to 2024.
| Location | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 29th Street | 8,651,725 | 8,955,329 | 8,546,119 | 5,216,325 | 6,246,298 | 7,639,742 | 7,415,024 | 7,239,305 |
| Airport | 3,728,786 | 111,924 | 59,710 | 1,495,457 | 978,735 | 690,106 | 409,586 | 312,373 |
| Basemar | 1,988,758 | 2,061,487 | 3,173,527 | 2,837,021 | 2,795,146 | 2,716,803 | 2,782,302 | 3,391,102 |
| Boulder County | 1,468,971 | 1,583,414 | 1,978,914 | 2,299,945 | 2,026,791 | 2,387,944 | 2,654,259 | 2,296,950 |
| Boulder Industrial | 13,310,534 | 12,908,478 | 13,408,482 | 12,452,067 | 14,082,481 | 16,663,655 | 16,450,149 | 14,231,824 |
| BVRC | 25,349,357 | 27,509,019 | 26,175,738 | 23,607,630 | 26,264,713 | 27,980,828 | 26,611,836 | 27,639,259 |
| Colorado All Other | 611,448 | 633,660 | 686,962 | 757,997 | 551,770 | 840,242 | 971,942 | 1,000,958 |
| County Clerk | 4,496,393 | 4,853,318 | 4,968,493 | 5,176,514 | 6,318,622 | 6,072,556 | 6,447,628 | 5,965,968 |
| Downtown | 10,836,431 | 10,668,497 | 12,467,154 | 5,693,484 | 7,701,947 | 9,412,975 | 9,504,961 | 9,766,695 |
| Downtown Extension | 720,573 | 507,259 | 685,965 | 659,656 | 473,973 | 307,168 | 205,679 | 186,453 |
| East Downtown | 970,443 | 1,211,990 | 994,318 | 784,687 | 946,364 | 1,034,859 | 1,118,458 | 921,858 |
| Gunbarrel Commercial | 1,604,237 | 1,563,490 | 1,546,710 | 1,578,391 | 1,733,810 | 1,765,474 | 1,763,582 | 1,791,858 |
| Gunbarrel Industrial | 5,986,618 | 6,406,721 | 5,933,283 | 6,382,921 | 5,215,182 | 6,245,412 | 6,496,792 | 4,974,228 |
| Metro Denver | 4,574,460 | 4,932,702 | 5,599,850 | 5,406,203 | 6,594,850 | 7,040,145 | 7,810,551 | 8,025,706 |
| N. 28th St Commercial | 6,472,008 | 6,522,935 | 6,714,738 | 6,763,807 | 6,584,643 | 7,671,286 | 8,517,821 | 7,399,656 |
| N. Broadway Annex | 428,298 | 484,903 | 667,765 | 1,168,339 | 463,736 | 510,523 | 657,821 | 728,909 |
| North Broadway | 1,820,062 | 1,741,708 | 2,470,680 | 2,211,518 | 2,187,335 | 2,180,959 | 2,107,847 | 1,991,606 |
| Out of State | 16,687,646 | 17,181,611 | 19,379,594 | 24,039,687 | 31,702,841 | 34,651,992 | 36,706,479 | 40,191,579 |
| Pearl Street Mall | 4,226,833 | 4,517,234 | 4,115,749 | 2,631,546 | 4,018,088 | 4,474,766 | 4,684,468 | 4,457,268 |
| Public Utilities | 4,860,064 | 4,761,626 | 4,798,040 | 4,517,893 | 5,157,332 | 6,129,682 | 6,191,623 | 5,870,551 |
| Table Mesa | 2,942,407 | 3,286,929 | 3,340,234 | 2,952,136 | 1,607,388 | 2,770,992 | 3,030,401 | 3,065,580 |
| The Meadows | 1,131,452 | 1,026,505 | 1,133,578 | 1,194,512 | 1,400,436 | 1,506,065 | 1,582,864 | 1,374,339 |
| UHGID (the "hill") | 1,486,253 | 1,542,317 | 1,571,509 | 1,216,120 | 1,367,732 | 1,340,197 | 1,423,512 | 1,555,138 |
| CU | 1,300,466 | 1,303,749 | 1,276,203 | 1,302,219 | 1,231,646 | 1,689,662 | 5,657,207 | 4,853,519 |
| Unlicensed Receipts | 359,258 | 962,508 | 501,334 | 680,925 | 713,780 | 667,526 | 491,054 | 359,055 |
| All Other Boulder | 8,525,411 | 13,409,397 | 9,760,001 | 12,168,411 | 13,937,014 | 14,721,057 | 13,823,284 | 14,316,693 |
| Total Sales and Use Tax | 134,538,892 | 140,648,710 | 141,954,650 | 135,195,411 | 152,302,653 | 169,112,616 | 175,517,130 | 173,908,430 |
Table 2 - Sales/Use tax collection by geography (2017-2024)
Sources
The 2026 Budget is set to levy a new fee on all property in Boulder.
Here are the PLAN-Boulder County positions on local ballot initiatives.
PLAN-Boulder County is limiting our endorsements of 2025 City Council candidates to three, even though there are four seats in the running. After the Collaborative Forum in which PLAN-Boulder, Open Boulder and Better Boulder jointly sponsored a candidate forum, the board also evaluated candidates’ responses to the PLAN-Boulder questionnaire and most significantly, assessed our experiences with the four incumbents over their past term. Based on these deliberations, we determined that our three endorsed candidates- Mark Wallach, Jenny Robins, and Rob Kaplan – are the ones that best support PLAN-Boulder’s values and policies.
Watch the video recording of the Sept. 8, 2025 Forum to get to know who is running for 4 open City Council seats .
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