The City Council on Monday gave final approval to converting the billing structure for Denver’s voter-supported sidewalk repair and construction program to a flat $150 for more than 95% of property owners next year, doing away with the highly variable billing approach outlined in the original measure.
Property owners with large lots will still pay more. The biilling formula will add $3.50 per foot to the annual cost for any property with more than 230 feet of street boundary.
Semi-annual bills will start hitting property owners’ wastewater accounts in the first six months of 2025, officials say.
The changes were among several amendments to the ordinance that the council preliminarily approved following a public hearing last week. Up for a final vote Monday, those changes passed unanimously again as part of the body’s consent agenda, signaling a lack of controversy.
Nick Williams, the deputy manager of internal and external affairs at the city’s Department of Transportation and Infrastructure, reiterated at the meeting that the sidewalk program relieves property owners of the responsibility for paying for the entirety of sidewalk work in front of their lots. That was the arrangement before voters overturned it in 2022.
The city is keeping a running list of locations where sidewalks are especially damaged and in need of work, Williams said. He encourages residents to report even their own properties via the city’s 311 resident services line to give the program a head start.
