Residents to vote on two local ballot questions

The Boulder City Council did its part and now the city is asking residents to do the same.

Late last month, council approved a pair of ballot questions that will go before the voters in this year’s Nov. 3 Municipal General Election.

Following council’s approval of the placement of two ballot items, the city is now seeking volunteers to write arguments advocating and opposing the two following ballot questions.

Question 1: Should data center facilities be an approved land use within the Eldorado Valley Transfer Area outside of the Multi-species Habitat Conservation Easement?

Question 2: Shall the city of Boulder City be authorized to expand available funds from the Capital Improvement Fund in an amount up to 50% of the most recent audited fiscal year’s ending cash balance in the Capital Improvement Fund each year in place of the previously-authorized amount of $1,000,000 per year for capital improvement projects for the benefit of Boulder City residents and visitors?

These committees are required under state law.

Those interested are asked to complete a volunteer data sheet at bcnv.org/ballotquestions and return it to the city clerk at cityclerk@bcnv.org no later than 1 p.m. March 30.

“The 2013 law requiring citizen-prepared ballot arguments ensures that whenever a city or county places a question before the public, voters receive clear, concise, and easy-to-understand explanations that are written by fellow voters that represent those in favor and those opposed,” City Clerk Tami McKay told the Review.

Question 1

During the council meeting, City Attorney Brittany Walker discussed the ballot questions. In her report to council she wrote, “Data centers are being proposed and built around the state of Nevada, but would not be allowed in the Eldorado Valley without voter approval.”

Data centers are industrial buildings that house a network of computers, servers, and IT infrastructure to help power the digital economy. Data center technology is evolving every day, and modern technologies are integrating renewable energy sources and using water-efficient technologies such as waterless cooling or cooling with reclaimed or recycled water instead of potable supplies, Walker wrote. Land values for data center facilities are much higher than other currently authorized uses in the Eldorado Valley Transfer Area, and revenue received from such leases could be used to support government functions including public safety, and could help keep taxes low.

The city acquired Eldorado Valley in 1995 in an agreement between the Colorado River Commission, as an agency of the State of Nevada, and the city, to be used only for and limited to public recreational uses, solar energy facilities, a desert tortoise preserve, utility lines, easements, roads, rights-of-way, communication towers, antennas and similar governmental uses and for existing lease and lease options.

Walker made it clear that there are no requests before the city for data centers. But with the growing number of them throughout the state and rest of the country, this opens the door for that possibility.

Question 2

The city currently leases land in the Eldorado Valley Transfer Area to solar energy generation and battery storage facilities, and currently leases land to one operating natural gas facility, Walker’s report states. These contracts bring in millions of dollars annually in city revenue allowing the city to support government functions and keep property taxes low. Per the City Charter, 20% of the proceeds from those leases are deposited into the Capital Improvement Fund. Boulder City Charter requires that “all expenditures from the Capital Improvement Fund be approved by a simple majority of the votes cast by the registered voters of the city on a proposition placed before them in a special election or general municipal election or general state election.”

The cash balance of the Capital Improvement Fund as of June 30 of last year was $8,411,697, and the Capital Improvement Fund currently grows at the rate of approximately $3 million per year. These monies cannot be spent on projects without voter approval, leaving millions of dollars inaccessible for city capital projects without spending the time and money for a ballot question.

This ballot measure would seek voter approval to allow the city to expend up to 50% of the most recent audited fiscal year’s ending cash balance in the Capital Improvement Fund each year for capital improvement projects. These funds are currently available in the CIF, and if authorized by the voters, the city would not have to incur additional time delays or spend monies on a ballot question in order to use readily available funds for capital projects, Walker wrote.