Wildfire Mitigation Sales Tax Programs

Resolution and Language

On August 4, 2022, the Board of County Commissioners voted unanimously to put forward a ballot measure, which would introduce a new sales and use tax to fund wildfire mitigation programs and projects. In November 2022, Boulder County voters approved wildfire mitigation ballot measure 1A with 72% of the vote.

The ballot measure established a 0.1% countywide sales and use tax for the purpose of funding countywide wildfire mitigation efforts to proactively address the increasing risk of climate-driven wildfires. The tax will fund work in two programmatic areas:

• Strategic forest and grassland management projects:
  • To reduce the risk of catastrophic wildfire.
  • To protect drinking water supplies.
  • To create more resilient forest and grassland ecosystems.
• Creating community resiliency:
  • Expand the Wildfire Partners program to serve residents of the east county.
  • To continue working in the west county preparing for wildfires.

View Resolution No. 2022-050 for the full text of the ballot measure, including recitals that provide background information.

View November 2022 Ballot Language.

Please note that a 0.1% tax is a penny on ten dollars.

Community Surveys and Meetings

Boulder County held an open house on November 29, 2022 to obtain public input on the newly passed Wildfire Mitigation Sales Tax. County staff collected input from an energetic and engaged group of attendees at the event. In addition to this open house, the county sought input on the ballot measure through an online survey. The county received 393 responses. The survey included four open-ended questions based on the structure of the ballot language. Respondents were able to provide as many ideas for future programs and projects as they wished. View the Wildfire Mitigation Public Input Survey responses.

Most of the suggestions from the open house and online survey are consistent with the activities discussed when the Boulder County Board of Commissioners placed this measure on the ballot in August 2022, including forest management, fuel breaks, prescribed fire, mowing, grazing, ditch management, home hardening, defensible space, education, and biomass disposal and utilization.

Some of the suggestions were not specific to wildfire mitigation and do not qualify for funding from the sales tax. These suggestions are considered part of wildfire response, emergency management, or recovery—not wildfire mitigation. These ideas included: additional firefighters, emergency water supply, aircraft, fire engines, emergency notifications, evacuation routes, early detection technology, burn bans, and post-fire recovery efforts.

One common suggestion was to fund the burying of power lines. This idea was not discussed when the ballot measure was created. At this time, the county has not decided whether Wildfire Mitigation Sales Tax funding will be used for burying power lines.

Current and Future Programs

Boulder County placed the sales and use tax on the ballot for the purpose of funding countywide wildfire mitigation efforts to proactively address the increasing risk of climate-driven wildfires.

Programs that were funded by the Wildfire Mitigation Sales Tax are described in our 2023 Annual Report.

View the Wildfire Mitigation Tax 2023 Annual Report

Boulder County Strategic Fuels Mitigation Grant Program

We are pleased to announce the launch of the Boulder County Strategic Fuels Mitigation Grant Program (SFMG), with the first cycle opening on October 30th, 2023.

The SFMG program provides cost-share funding through competitive grants to leverage other federal, state, and local funds to help reduce the risk of wildfire to people, property, and infrastructure throughout Boulder County. Funding is intended to promote forest, grassland, and watershed health through collaborative, large-scale projects. Funds are also available to support the development of new or updated Community Wildfire Protection Plans (CWPP). For more information, please visit the SFMG webpage.

Wildfire Partners

Wildfire Partners is Boulder County’s wildfire mitigation program. Wildfire Partners helps homeowners prepare their homes for wildfires by providing community partnerships, personalized technical assistance, and financial assistance. Prior to 2022, the program only operated in west Boulder County. With the passage of the Wildfire Mitigation Sales Tax Wildfire Partners has expanded to east county.

Wildfire Partners Chipping Program

Wildfire Partners offers free community chipping services to all Boulder County residents who qualify. View the Boulder County Community Chipping Program  webpage.

Wildfire Partners Rebate Program

Wildfire Partners offer rebates of up to $500 to all Boulder County residents who qualify. To learn more, visit the Wildfire Partners Rebate Program webpage.

Wildfire Partners in West Boulder County

Wildfire Partners will continue to provide technical and financial assistance in west Boulder County  to assess and certify homes as it has in past years using both mitigation tax and existing grant funding.

Wildfire Partners in East Boulder County

Wildfire Partners is developing services for east Boulder County. These services are different than those available in the west. They include many of the activities that took place in the early years of wildfire mitigation efforts in the western county, such as conducting community risk assessments, leading public awareness campaigns, attending community events, performing education and outreach, funding community chipping efforts, helping to create Firewise Communities, organizing special events, developing community wildfire protection plans, as well as conducting individual home assessments in targeted high-risk and high-needs communities. Free youth corps service are available to individuals and communities in need.