The 2026 Niwot incorporation election, plainly

Checked again October 26, 2026, against the commission’s ballot, candidates and FAQ pages and Boulder County Elections: the questions, figures and dates below still match them, and the county’s mail deadline is added. Niwot is still unincorporated, and the commission’s pages still speak of a proposed municipality; nothing here is a result.

Updated October 10, 2026: the commission certified the ballot titles on September 11, 2026, by Resolution 2026-07. This summary now matches the certified text, and the descriptions of Questions 1 to 3 and Issues 1 to 5 have been corrected to it.

This guide describes the measures as filed, without commentary on whether they are advisable. The Niwot Election Commission certified the ballot titles on September 11, 2026 (Resolution 2026-07), and the certified ballot language controls; everything here is a plain-language summary of it, checked against the certified text on October 10, 2026 and again on October 26. Campaign material is labeled as advocacy wherever it appears, and the commission is never presented as an advocate.

What you can do now

• Check the proposed boundary. The commission’s FAQ says the boundary is the one described in the petition’s Exhibits A and B. An address-lookup tool run by a campaign is not official material.
• Read the ballot. The certified ballot content, on the commission’s own site.
• Register, or check your registration. Boulder County Elections handles registration, address changes, drop-off and voting locations.

Key dates

Ballots mailed, 24-hour drop boxes open	October 2, 2026
Vote centers open	October 19, 2026
Last recommended day to return a ballot by mail, and to ask for a replacement by mail	October 26, 2026
From then on: a 24-hour drop box or a vote center	October 27 to November 3, 2026
Election Day; ballots must be received by 7 pm	November 3, 2026

Colorado has no registration deadline: an eligible voter can register and vote through Election Day. Dates are from Boulder County Elections, checked October 26, 2026; the Secretary of State’s office gives the same advice statewide, that from October 27 a ballot should go to a drop box or a voter center rather than the mail.

Who decides what

Two bodies, two roles. The Niwot Election Commission, appointed by the Boulder County District Court, decides ballot content and procedure for this question. The Boulder County Clerk and Recorder conducts the coordinated mail-ballot election it appears in, alongside other county contests. Those who may vote are registered electors residing within the proposed boundary.

What incorporation means

Incorporation would create a town: a municipal government for the area inside the boundary described in the petition, with its own elected officials and the powers Colorado law gives a municipality. That is why the same ballot carries the taxes and the debt that would fund it. Niwot is unincorporated today, so those functions sit with Boulder County and the special districts.

The proposed boundary is not the same as the Niwot census designated place. The 4,306 people counted there in 2020 are not the electorate for this vote, and not necessarily the population of the proposed town.

The questions

Question 1 · Whether Niwot should incorporate as a municipality. The ballot asks, “Shall Niwot be incorporated as a municipality?”: whether the territory described in the incorporation petition should be organized as a Colorado municipality. If it is approved, the Boulder County District Court enters an order of incorporation. If it is not, no municipality is created, the process ends, and the area stays unincorporated and administered by Boulder County.

Question 2 · Whether to form a nine-member home rule charter commission. Whether a home rule charter commission should be formed under C.R.S. Title 31, Article 2, Part 2 for the proposed municipality. If incorporation is also approved, the commission drafts a proposed home rule charter, which returns to voters at a later election. The commission drafts a charter; it does not adopt one.

Question 3 · Which nine charter commission candidates should be elected. Which of the 28 candidates on the ballot would serve on that charter commission: voters may vote for not more than nine, and a ballot marked for more than nine is not counted in this contest. The contest is decided whether or not incorporation passes, but the commission has a charter to write only if it does.

The fiscal issues

Issue 1 · A 2.5% sales and use tax beginning January 1, 2028. Authorization to levy a municipal sales and use tax at 2.5%, beginning January 1, 2028, to fund capital improvements and related operating costs, including debt repayment, and any lawful municipal purpose. The ballot text exempts food for domestic consumption, leaves any other exemptions to the town’s governing body, applies the use tax to goods stored, used or consumed in Niwot, including construction and building materials, and states a tax increase of $2,800,000 in the first full fiscal year.

Issue 2 · A four-mill property tax. Authorization to levy a property tax of four mills to meet operational and maintenance costs. The ballot text states a tax increase of $900,000 in the first full fiscal year.

Issue 3 · An additional 3% sales tax on retail marijuana, beginning January 1, 2028. A special sales tax on retail marijuana and retail marijuana products, in addition to any other Niwot sales tax. It applies only if retail marijuana businesses operate within the municipality. The ballot text states a tax increase of $60,000 in the first full fiscal year.

Issue 4 · Authorization to retain and spend all revenue from 2027. Authorization for the municipality to retain and spend all the revenue it collects from every source not otherwise excluded from fiscal year spending, including grants, fees and charges, and sales, use and property taxes, from 2027 onward, without regard to any state revenue or spending limit, including the one in Article X, Section 20 of the Colorado Constitution (the Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights). If it is not approved, that limit applies and revenue collected above it must be refunded.

Issue 5 · Authorization for up to $15 million in debt for transportation infrastructure. With a maximum total repayment cost of up to $28 million, for the repair, reconstruction, improvement and maintenance of streets, roads, bridges, drainage, sidewalks and related transportation infrastructure. The ballot text makes the debt payable from sales and use tax revenues if those taxes are approved by a separate ballot measure; the commission’s summary names that measure as Issue 1.

What happens after the vote

1. The commission certifies the canvassed results to the Boulder County District Court, as its FAQ describes. Boulder County’s calendar has the canvass board’s sign-off on November 24.
2. If incorporation is rejected, no municipality is created and the fiscal authorizations have nothing to apply to. The charter commission contest is still decided, but the commission has no charter to write. The process ends.
3. If incorporation is approved, the court enters an order of incorporation, and the fiscal measures that also passed take effect on the dates in the ballot text.
4. If the charter commission question is also approved, the nine elected commissioners draft a proposed home rule charter. The commission has a charter to write only if incorporation is approved.
5. The proposed charter returns to voters at a later election.
6. No charter is being approved in the November 3, 2026 election.

Official sources

• Niwot Election Commission — ballot content and procedure; notices, meeting records and the timetable.
• Official ballot content — the certified questions and fiscal issues.
• Resolution 2026-07 — the commission’s certification of the ballot titles, adopted September 11, 2026. It and the earlier resolutions are on the commission’s minutes and resolutions page.
• The ballot content in full — the amended attachment to Resolution 2026-05: the three questions, the 28 candidates and the five fiscal issues.
• Election FAQ and the proposed boundary — including how to check an address against the petition exhibits.
• Boulder County Elections — registration, address updates, drop-off and voting locations, results.

Campaign material

Every registered campaign committee, listed together and labeled identically. None is an election authority and none is presented as one.

• Niwot Incorporation Committee — campaign material
• Niwot Together — campaign material
• Neighbors for Niwot — campaign material

Standards for this page

Nothing here argues for or against incorporation. Anything that cannot be supported by a filed document or an official publication is removed rather than softened. The summaries follow the certified ballot text on the commission’s ballot page and in the amended attachment to Resolution 2026-05, checked on October 10, 2026 and against the ballot page again on October 26; where a summary and the ballot language differ, the ballot language governs. Corrections are published with their date. Report one.