Engage Boulder - So How Is Boulder Doing Otherwise?

Issue #2 — September 16, 2026

So How Is Boulder Doing Otherwise?
Not as well as it should be.

This Engage Boulder Newsletter reflects the personal opinions of Dan Caruso, written with the support of the Caruso Ventures team.

The last issue focused on the City’s out-of-control spending. This issue sets the spending aside and asks: how is Boulder doing otherwise?

Not well.

In short. Boulder has stopped growing. Revenue is growing slower than inflation. A quarter of Boulder’s offices are empty. Young families keep leaving.

Boulder is among the most remarkable places in the world. It should be a magnet for families, tech, culture, and commerce. That is the question I will work through in the Engage Boulder — 2026 Election Series.

Boulder Is Shrinking

Boulder’s population looks steady. The Census Bureau counted 106,742 residents in 2015 and 105,689 last year. Flat for a decade.

Take the students out and the picture changes. The non-student population declined by about 9 percent. Ouch.

Here’s how I got to this number.

CU enrollment rose 24.8 percent between 2015 and 2024, and CU told the city last August that 32,957 of its students live here — roughly a third of Boulder. The overall population declined from 106,742 residents to 105,689.

This implies that the non-student population declined by roughly 7,000 people.

The Census data points the same direction. Boulder gained 2,514 residents over the decade. Group quarters — dormitories, overwhelmingly — grew by 2,693. The number of people living in ordinary houses and apartments shrank by 179. Strip out the portion of students not in dorms, and the non-student decline is substantially higher than 179.

Boulder did not grow over the past decade. The university grew, and the rest of Boulder shrank.

Revenue Is Growing Slower Than Inflation

Boulder’s sales and use tax collections rose 2.75 percent in 2025, to an all-time high of $178.7 million. Inflation ran 2.7 percent.

So does that mean Boulder’s economy is keeping pace with inflation? No. The part that matters grew at a fraction of inflation — which means our tax base is declining in real terms. Here’s how I got there.

Boulder gained $4.8 million in 2025. Of that, $3.2 million came from a single line: construction use tax — the tax the city charges on the materials that go into a building. This revenue rose 21.4 percent in one year.

Take that away, and what is left is the ongoing economy. Retail sales tax — people actually buying things in Boulder — grew 0.64 percent. Against 2.7 percent inflation, that is a real-terms decline of roughly three-quarters.

The city says the same thing in its own report: “The twelve-month change for December sales tax of 0.6% lagged the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers of 2.7%.”

So is the increase in construction use tax good news? The city’s accountants say no: “Revenue from large projects above the base is considered one-time revenue and is used for one-time expenses.”

Does it at least mean construction activity is accelerating in Boulder? Not really. Last year’s construction tax was only 9.6 percent above 2023’s — a rebound from a down year, not a boom. And the largest private project in it is student housing. The Standard at Boulder — 303 apartments on the site of the Millennium Harvest House hotel — carried a construction value of nearly $80 million, permitted in February and March of last year. And it is unclear how the City’s new global headquarters at Alpine-Balsam contributed to this construction use tax revenue.

The bottom line is this. Boulder’s retail sales tax is growing at less than a quarter the pace of inflation. This is bad news for all the hard working owners and employees of the small businesses of Boulder.

Boulder elects a mayor and five City Council members this November — six of the nine seats on council. Five of those running already hold office.

Aaron Brockett is running for re-election as mayor. Taishya Adams, a sitting councilmember, is running for mayor rather than defending her seat. And three councilmembers are on the ballot for re-election: Tara Winer, the Mayor Pro Tem; Tina Marquis; and Ryan Schuchard.

As you reflect on the $400 million request, a city that stopped growing, and a tax base falling behind inflation, ask yourself a question. Should those who have been running our city be reelected? Or should Boulder voters elect a fresh slate?

I personally believe we need a fresh start.

— Dan Caruso, Engage Boulder

Author of Engage Colorado | Managing Director of Caruso Ventures | Host of The Bear Roars Podcast | Board Chair of Tulagi