Boulder County once had a grant for homelessness services from SAMHSA, but it wasn’t renewed. With federal and state funding going away, the county might need local funding to continue providing some behavioral health services.

At its simplest, Boulder County Ballot Issue 1B would increase Boulder County sales and use taxes by 0.15% to fund mental and behavioral health services in Boulder County. If voters approve, this tax would sunset in three years, on Dec. 31, 2028. It would provide about $15 million per year toward services and administration.

For those who are short on time, the following bullet points are perhaps the simplest way to understand how the revenue could be used. However, there will be a lot of detail to follow in this write-up, including links for much more information.

  • Crisis Response and Intervention Services will include mobile crisis response, walk-in centers, and place-based crisis response and stabilization for individuals experiencing a mental health crisis or substance use withdrawal.
  • Treatment Services will provide funding to licensed clinicians and health care providers to support mental health and substance use disorders and include funding to community-based organizations that serve under-served populations in the County.
  • Recovery Supports will cover partial hospitalization, sober-living, intensive outpatient services, peer services and other step-down services that support county residents in recovery from substance use and mental health disorders.
  • Navigation Services will connect people with services including outreach to unhoused individuals.
  • Prevention Services will fund schools, non-profit organizations, and others to identify youths and others facing mental health, substance abuse, and suicide risk factors.

Why Is 1B Being Proposed?

While it’s possible that some people had not heard about this ballot measure until fairly recently, Boulder County has been compiling information on mental/behavioral health situations and needs well in advance of 1B’s proposal. This information is available to all on the Boulder County Behavioral Health Roadmap webpage linked here, and readers with limited familiarity might find it particularly informative: https://bouldercounty.gov/departments/community-services/strategic-initiatives/behavioral-health-roadmap/  

The Roadmap, in very short, includes information on issues including: describing goals to create a coordinated mental/behavioral health system in the county; a link to a Behavioral Health Strategic Plan; records of assessments of Boulder County service performance of the past; and records of past meetings along with public input. Boulder County Commissioner Claire Levy noted in a summer 2025 newsletter that the Roadmap was created “after many months of meetings with more than 600 community members, treatment providers, community-based organizations, and subject-matter experts.”

Meanwhile, the new administration in Washington has made or threatened many cuts to human services-related federal programs since the President took office on Jan. 20, plus the State of Colorado has made recent budget cuts of its own. The county’s Community Services staff put together an August 2025 memo including the following information on some of these cuts:

  • The (Boulder County) Jail was successful in obtaining two Bureau of Justice Assistance Comprehensive Opioid, Stimulant, and Substance Use Program grants and two Justice and Mental Health Collaboration Program. However, these grants have recently ended and were not renewed this year by the current federal administration.
  • Case management services to support people experiencing homelessness were, in part, supported over a similar period of time by a grant from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA). That grant has concluded and was also not renewed.
  • Significant grants from the state’s Behavioral Health Administration that supported residential and recovery home services from two vendors have recently concluded.
  • County ARPA funds that supported a variety of behavioral health services are due to expire at the end of 2026.  (ARPA is the American Rescue Plan Act that was enacted during the Biden administration.)

The Community Services memo also included a number of statistics illustrating the need for services in Boulder County, including:

  • 1 in 5 Boulder County residents reported a depression diagnosis, with 39% of youth experiencing depression symptoms and 42% of those 60 years or older feeling their depression symptoms were causing problems in their lives.
  • From 2020 – 2023, more than 2 in 3 (67.5%) persons experiencing homelessness reported one or more behavioral health disorders.
  • In 2023, approximately 56% of the Boulder County Jail population were identified with a mental health issue (Axis I).
  • In 2023, 307 community members went to the ER for self-harm and that 40.7% were 18 years or younger and over 75% were for self-harm caused by drugs or sharp objects.
  • 159 community members committed suicide from January 2023 to July 2025 and 28% (almost 1 in 3) were ages 18 to 29.
  • 476 community members went to the ER for drug overdose in 2023 with 31% of these being 15-25 years-old (between 2016 – 2023).
  • 164 community members died of drug overdose from January 2023 to July 2025 with over 50% including Fentanyl and 42% included Methamphetamines.

With all of the above information and more in mind, the county began preparing a proposal for what is now Issue 1B.

The Boulder County Commissioners held several public hearings in the summer of 2025 on ballot measure proposals. The original ordinance asked for the tax to be in effect for 15 years, but there was some pushback, and a second proposal drafted for an Aug. 19 hearing was for five years. On Aug. 28, the timeframe was shortened again to three years, and that’s what we’ll see on the ballot. Readers can watch or listen to archived Commissioners’ hearings at the following links:

Strategic Plan and Spending Priorities

With a hopefully-fair mention that Boulder County can’t actually hire staff or fund systems using 1B revenue unless voters approve, people in the community are understandably interested in the county’s plan should 1B pass. For starters, interested readers will find a great deal of general information in the county’s Behavioral Health Strategic Plan (linked here).

The intro to this write-up included five bullet points about the county’s 1B key areas of focus, and these areas of focus are also in the ballot measure title and the 1B resolution. The original proposal for what would become 1B had spending requirements by percentage for each of the five categories, but the final version removed the percentage requirements so the county could have more flexibility if it needed to meet pressing needs.

For those who won’t have time to read the full Strategic Plan, below are some of the more specific areas the county would hope to address within each of the five main areas.

Navigation Services:

  • Case management and system navigation support for providers and public
  • Culturally responsive and affirming navigation services
  • Navigation services to mitigate barriers to entry
  • Community education on available resources

Prevention Services:

  • Countywide, coordinated prevention strategy
  • Upstream prevention focused on the social determinants of health
  • Mental health promotion, awareness, skill-building, and anti-stigma campaigns
  • Mental Health First Aid training provided community wide, free of cost
  • RISE (Restoring Individuals Safely and Effectively) programming and universal screening in schools
  • Spaces for community connection and opportunities for prosocial activities

Crisis Response and Intervention Services:

  • Local options for addressing acute mental and behavioral health needs
  • Expanded mobile crisis response to meet countywide needs
  • Expanded IOP (Intensive Outpatient Program) services
  • Crisis diversion interventions
  • Step-down services and follow up outreach following a crisis
  • Crisis connection and care coordination mechanisms

Treatment Services:

  • Treatment services and care coordination for those with high acuity needs, dual/multiple diagnoses, co-occurring needs, or persistent SMI (Serious Mental Illness)
  • Expanded IOP options, IP treatment services, PHP (Partial Hospitalization Program), residential, and step-down services
  • Expanded post hospitalization supports
  • Culturally responsive and affirming treatment options
  • Mental health and substance use supports for justice involved population
  • Children & youth specific services, including services for children & youth experiencing SED (Serious Emotional Disturbance) and intensive substance use needs
  • Family system supports in substance use treatment programs

Recovery Supports:

  • Support in care transitions and follow up outreach post hospitalization or inpatient treatment stay
  • Peer supports
  • Supportive housing and comprehensive supports for people in recovery
  • Spaces for community connection
  • Recovery services available in Spanish

Ballot Measure Title, Text, and Tax Rates 

Here is the ballot measure title that voters will see on their ballot:

SHALL BOULDER COUNTY TAXES BE INCREASED $15 MILLION ANNUALLY (FIRST FULL FISCAL YEAR DOLLAR INCREASE IN 2026) BY IMPOSING AN ADDITIONAL SALES AND USE TAX FOR THREE YEARS OF 0.15% FOR THE PURPOSE OF ADDRESSING UNMET NEEDS OF YOUTH, ADULTS, FAMILIES, UNHOUSED INDIVIDUALS, AND OLDER ADULTS IN BOULDER COUNTY WITH OR AT RISK OF MENTAL HEALTH AND SUBSTANCE USE DISORDERS BY PROVIDING MENTAL HEALTH CRISIS SERVICES; SUICIDE PREVENTION AND INTERVENTION; MENTAL HEALTH AND SUBSTANCE USE PREVENTION, TREATMENT, AND RECOVERY; TREATMENT SERVICES FOR UNHOUSED INDIVIDUALS; AND ASSISTANCE FINDING APPROPRIATE SERVICES THROUGH COMMUNITY-BASED ORGANIZATIONS, GOVERNMENTAL ENTITIES, AND OTHER OPTIONS; AND SHALL THE REVENUES AND THE EARNINGS ON THE INVESTMENT OF THE PROCEEDS OF SUCH TAX, REGARDLESS OF AMOUNT, CONSTITUTE A VOTER APPROVED REVENUE CHANGE; ALL IN ACCORDANCE WITH BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS’ RESOLUTION NO. 2025-038?

Note: the section above saying revenues and earnings “constitute a voter-approved revenue change” means the county would not need to issue refunds of 1B revenue under the Colorado Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights (TABOR).

Here is a link to the ballot resolution. Of particular importance, pages 1 and 2 discuss some of the reasons for proposing the tax, while pages 7 and 8 outline general proposed uses for the revenue: https://assets.bouldercounty.gov/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/2025-Mental_and_Behavioral_Health_Tax_Proposal_Resolution.pdf 

Currently, the existing countywide total sales and use tax rate is 1.185%, and the Behavioral Health tax would add 0.15% so the new rate for 2026 would be 1.335%. If the Behavioral Health tax passes in November, add 0.15% to the following current city or town total sales tax rates for 2026: Boulder: 9.045%; Boulder (retail food service): 9.195%; Erie: 8.685%; Lafayette: 9.055%; Longmont: 8.715%; Louisville: 8.835%; Lyons: 8.685%; Nederland: 9.435%; Superior: 8.645%; Ward: 7.185%.

Issue 1B Pro:

  • Federal and state budget cuts threaten the availability of behavioral health services in Boulder County, but revenue from this tax will help the county provide needed services.
  • Behavioral health services can save lives or put lives on better paths, but a serious lack of services can be catastrophic for those who need them.
  • This ballot measure is the product of lots of process, between several years’ work on the Roadmap and public input at Commissioners’ hearings.
  • There are very clear needs for behavioral health services in Boulder County, including but not limited to issues like depression, thoughts of suicide, or serious substance abuse.
  • Lack of availability to behavioral health services can be especially harmful for under-represented communities, including but not limited to people of color, LGBTQA+, or people experiencing homelessness.
  • New tax measures in other counties have led to some positive outcomes. For example, Larimer County reports decreases in suicide rates, while Eagle County reports decreases in referrals to emergency departments.

Issue 1B Con:

  • This is a new tax, meaning added expense for most Boulder County residents, and it’s a sales tax which is said to be regressive – impacting lower-income residents to a greater extent.
  • While some people have criticized the new expense, others say the proposal wouldn’t provide enough money to “go big” and meet enough needs. It also only lasts for 3 years, meaning the county will have big decisions to make about programs and funding in the very near future.
  • While the need for mental health support is critical, the initiative’s broad, general objectives do not set granular priorities on how best to help those in need.
  • Some people believe the process of putting this measure on the ballot was rushed.
  • The new tax (if approved) would push total municipal sales tax rates higher, possibly making it more difficult for municipalities to propose new taxes of their own to meet their needs.

Proponent Website: https://www.healthymindsstrongercommunity.org/

Richard’s Take

I will vote YES on this measure fairly easily. I have certainly considered legitimate points from opponents, but one fundamental situation (see next paragraph) keeps me firmly in the “yes” camp.

Among the many unfortunate things happening in our “new abnormal” is that the federal government is cutting or ceasing funding for a host of human services programs, and it’s very obvious that some of those cuts will negatively impact mental/behavioral health services within Boulder County. Couple the losses of funding with significant local needs for services and the potentially severe consequences of untreated mental/behavioral health conditions, and I personally just can’t morally vote any other way on this specific proposal.

I’d like to write briefly about some of the opposition points, and I’m not necessarily badly disagreeing with a lot of them. They just don’t cross my lines that would lead me to oppose this measure.

  • Ballot Measure Process Rushed: I consider myself reasonably well-informed on civic issues, but didn’t hear about the likelihood of this ballot measure until June 2025. But in starting to learn more about it, I delved into the Roadmap and saw quite a bit of information that’s been compiled over the course of years in advance of the ballot measure. People can only follow so much with limited amounts of time – and my priorities have admittedly been on other issues – so I accept that it’s possible for proposals to seemingly come out of nowhere. But the underlying issues guiding this measure didn’t come out of nowhere, and the gist of 1B itself is a simple tax to pay for services. It’s fair for people to have wanted more input into what became 1B, but if it passes there will be new opportunities for input into the actual programs and services.
  • “The Plan” Isn’t Clear Enough: I hope this will be a rare statement on a ballot measure for me, but I’ll support 1B even though I haven’t seen precisely how the revenue will be spent. I can appreciate that Boulder County is facing both federal cuts and demands for services, and will need to hustle to put together staffing and systems to address these problems – and most importantly help actual humans who are facing real difficulties. I can also appreciate that people will want more detail in advance of voting, but I don’t think a statement along the lines of “there is no plan” is accurate – if only because there is a Strategic Plan and a Roadmap that I mentioned earlier. I’m offering my trust and a relatively small amount of money in the fall of 2025, but for the decision-makers out there, I’ll expect a strong and detailed case to be made directly to the public for the system’s near-term progress well in advance of the potential next ballot measure.
  • Sales Tax Is Regressive: I might be in a real minority here, but I’d like to see us put a little nuance on “sales tax regressive” as a reflexive statement. Regressive means a tax impacts lower-income residents to a greater extent than higher-income residents. However, property taxes can also impact lower-income people, since tax increases can lead to higher rents (a large expense that lower-income earners typically cough up every month), while lower-or-fixed-income homeowners can also feel a real sting from property tax increases. Then, there is the matter of the size of a given tax, and I’ll just say personally that a large property tax increase might hit me harder than a small sales tax. For example, Lafayette is running a property tax measure this year that would cost “average” homeowners $280/year for 20 years, way more than I’ll pay in sales taxes. Still, the top-level point to me on 1B is we’re getting hit by a federal administration pulling the rug out from under programs we’ve used and needed for years, and it’s really unfortunate but state and local governments will need some type of revenue to maintain or expand critical services.
  • It Doesn’t “Go Big” Enough: Sure, no problem agreeing with that one. In particular, Boulder County probably needs dedicated facilities like what Larimer County developed with a larger tax, and 1B won’t fund new facilities. I somewhat expect to see a call for facilities and/or growth in services with the next ballot measure or measures, while this year’s 1B is more of a near-term stopgap to help make sure fewer people lack access to services.

If there were not such serious possible consequences when those with mental/behavioral health issues can’t get treatment or help, I might also be more skeptical of 1B. But the potential consequences can extend beyond the individual – into families, institutions, and communities. On top of that, we can’t reasonably count on help from the federal or state governments into at least the near-term future. This is one of the rare instances in my life where I am supporting immediate action, as opposed to taking more time in process. It seems to me like the time is now.

Please don’t let me down on this one, Boulder County. As it stands in September 2025, I have confidence that officials have heard the community desires for clarity and transparency around how 1B revenue will be used, and how programs and services will be established. But on the other hand, I want to hope there will be things we DON’T hear about because this tax actually helped some number of people – including tragedy, injury, lost opportunity, and traumatized individuals or families. In this case, no news would be good news.