Font ResizeAugust: The city of Boulder sends letters to contractors, saying they owe a total of $5 million in back taxes that weren't properly reconciled after projects were completed.
September: The collection effort is temporarily halted because of public backlash.
Thursday and Friday: A consulting firm hired to study whether the city should pursue collections will host public meetings from 3:30 to 5 p.m. at the Municipal Building, 1777 Broadway.
Monday: Deadline for the public to offer feedback in an online survey, at bouldercolorado.gov/constructionusetax.
Nov. 30: Consultant's report is due to the city.
Dec. 4: Public meeting on the report, 3:30 p.m. at the Municipal Building.
Dec. 10: City manager's final recommendation to the City Council to be made public.
Dec. 15: The council will make a final decision during its scheduled business meeting, at 6 p.m. in the Municipal Building.
Contractors fearing financial disaster if the city of Boulder decides to collect on back taxes that most businesses never knew they owed have just days left to have their voices heard.
City Manager Jane Brautigam is wrapping up public feedback as part of a 60-day review of the city's materials tax code.
Brautigam in September put a temporary halt on efforts to collect nearly $5 million from about 1,000 contractors. City finance officials said the contractors' materials taxes weren't being properly reconciled at the end of projects. The tax code calls for contractors to pay taxes on building materials up front, based on estimated costs, but most contractors say they were never made aware that they had to make up the difference in actual costs upon completion.
During the two-month break from the collection efforts, the city has hired Anita White Consulting to study the way the city collects its use taxes from contractors.
The firm -- hired at a cost of $100 per hour with a cap of $30,000 -- has already met with stakeholders once, with two more public meetings scheduled for 3:30 p.m. Thursday and Friday at the Municipal Building, 1777 Broadway.
The city has also posted an online survey, at bouldercolorado.gov/constructionusetax, in which anyone can offer feedback about the controversy. The survey, which closes Monday, asks for suggestions to improve the city's tax policy, and whether contractors have noticed better communication by tax officials in other cities.
Following the two remaining public meetings and the close of the survey, the consultant will provide the city with a summary of all the comments and a possible solution moving forward. That report is due to the city by Nov. 30.
Brautigam plans to host one public meeting about the report, scheduled for 3:30 p.m. Dec. 4 at the Municipal Building.
Brautigam's final recommendation to the City Council, based on public input and the consultant's findings, will be made public Dec. 10. The City Council will then make a final decision on what to do about the back taxes during a business meeting on Dec. 15.
Some members of the council have called the issue a "massive screw-up" on the part of the city, suggesting that tax collectors should forgive all $5 million worth of debt. Brautigam, however, has maintained that it was not a screw-up, but rather an oversight that the city has the power to correct.
Katie Lehr, a spokeswoman for the Boulder Builder Association, said the consultant has been "very receptive" to contractors' concerns, but she remains skeptical that the city will back off entirely because so much money is involved.
"This retroactive nature is unreasonable," she said. "It's unreasonable in its premise and it's unreasonable in its approach."
She said contractors, as a whole, aren't opposed to paying the appropriate amount of taxes. What they are not willing to do, she said, is go back to homeowners and ask for more money long after the fact.
"I'm not willing to go back to them and say, 'The city would like you to pay more money,'" she said.
Contact Camera Staff Writer Heath Urie at 303-473-1328 or urieh@dailycamera.com.
