Denver City Council considers annual flat fee on properties to pay for sidewalk repairs

DENVER (KDVR) — Starting in January, Denver property owners may be charged a $150 fee to pay for sidewalk improvements citywide.

In November 2022, Denver voters approved a measure to put the responsibility for repairing sidewalks in the city’s hands. Previously, property owners were on the hook for the costs of repairing cracked, raised or missing sidewalks on their parcels.

“Sidewalks are the most basic infrastructure that we need for our neighborhoods to be safe and accessible to everybody,” Jill Locantore said.

Locantore is the executive director of Denver Streets Partnership , which was a leading force in passing the 2022 sidewalk measure.

“40% of the streets in Denver either have no sidewalk at all or a sidewalk that is too skinny because it can’t accommodate a person in a wheelchair or a parent with a stroller,” she said.

Locantore is also part of a committee tasked with coming up with a list of recommendations for implementing the city’s new sidewalk program. It will go into effect in January. However, it is still unclear how much people will have to pay.

“One of the things that we heard from the community is that everybody benefits from having a complete, well-connected sidewalk network. You use it not only in front of your home but also walking to school or the neighborhood park or work and so we should all chip in to help support this network that serves all of us,” she said.

The ordinance was originally structured to charge residents a fee based on the linear footage of the sidewalk on their property. The revised plan Locantore helped present to a city council committee Tuesday afternoon calls for a flat-rate structure instead.

The proposal would mean roughly 99% of property owners in Denver would be charged $150 annually.

The other 1% would be charged an additional amount for having uniquely large sidewalk footprints. Those properties would be subject to the $150 base fee plus an additional $3.50 per foot of sidewalk that extends beyond 230 feet.

“That’s a huge property and so it’s kind of a different class of people than your average single-family homeowner in Denver,” Locantore said.

The flat-rate structure is estimated to bring in $40 million to pay for repairs, projects and administrative costs.  A city council committee approved the plan on Tuesday. It now moves on to the full city council for consideration.

If approved, property owners would be charged half the annual cost as part of their January 2025 stormwater bill. The other half would be charged in the second half of the year.

The plan also provides for low-income residents to apply for a fee reduction.

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