Longmont residents will be asked to weigh in on several City of Longmont ballot questions for the November 8, 2022 election. The Longmont Chamber of Commerce has voted to support all three of the questions.

Storm Drainage Bonds

In September 2013, Longmont experienced a 100-year flood event, in which homes were lost and millions of dollars of damage was done to City infrastructure. In response, the City developed the Resilient St. Vrain Project (RSVP), an extensive, multi-year project to fully restore the St. Vrain Greenway and improve the St. Vrain Creek channel to protect people, property and infrastructure from future flood risk.

The $20 million in bond funding, if approved, would pay for these improvements in conjunction with the scheduled rate changes in 2022-2024. Bond repayments would be made over time using Storm Drainage funds acquired through storm drainage utility customer payments and fees paid by new development. This funding request would not impose new taxes or increase existing taxes.

Administrative Charter Amendments

On the first ballot issue, changes include: allowing the City to use electronic signatures on Council documents, allowing City employees who don’t live in Longmont to take part in City retirement boards, allowing administrative approval for low- or no-cost agreements with other governmental entities, aligning City election rules with the State’s election rules.

Election Vacancy Amendment

The Longmont City Council is also asking voters to consider changing the charter with respect to election vacancies. Currently, when a sitting Council member wants to run for another position (such as Mayor) during their term, if they win, a special election is needed to fill the vacancy. Council would like to offer an option where sitting Councilmembers can voluntarily end their term as they run for another. This will allow the City to run the election for both seats simultaneously and save the cost and labor of a special election in these cases.