AURORA — In this city that straddles two counties and bleeds over into a third, a consultant’s examination of Aurora’s becoming a city and county is a “worst cost” analysis, one that could ultimately decide once and for all whether Aurora would become the state’s 65th county.
In that instance, Aurora city officials are being given the most expensive option. Then they would work backward from there to determine if it makes sense financially to make the move, Aurora Mayor Steve Hogan said. Other factors will also be considered.
In 2012, Aurora said the city would study converting to the city-county model.
A draft form of the report now being reviewed by City Council members is not being made public at this point because it has not been finalized.
But the final report by TischlerBise, a consultant based in Bethesda, Md., and discussion on its finding should be made public by summer, Hogan said.
The mayor is among those who favor the city-county switch. When he was a council member, Hogan repeatedly pushed that agenda only to be thwarted by others on the council. His passion has only increased since then.
“This is about controlling your own future instead of having someone else control it for you,” Hogan said. “It was true 20 years ago. It was true 10 years ago, and it’s true today. And if we don’t make the change, it will be more true 10 years from now.”
But City Councilwoman Molly Markert, who was the first to see the report, said she isn’t a big fan of Aurora becoming a county. Markert called the city-county concept in metro areas “outdated” and not necessary. She said it would lead to even more duplication, not less, as proponents contend.
“It has no purpose now,” Markert said. “This has been talked about for a long time, but I still get skeptical.”
The issue of whether Aurora should become a city and county has been around for decades. A study was done in the 1980s, but it didn’t go anywhere. A panel of citizens also gave it a cursory look.
Supporters of a city-county movement in Aurora say it would consolidate services, eliminate duplication, and give Aurora more flexibility and say in its own future.
Detractors, however, point to the costs of having to build a new jail, courts, social services and other facilities that a city-county needs to keep in business. It could also mean higher taxes initially to fund those projects.
Nearly 88 percent of Aurora’s 340,000 residents live in Arapahoe County, 12 percent in Adams County, and 0.05 percent in Douglas County. About half of Arapahoe County’s population lives in Aurora.
The consultant’s report, which cost $249,000, will look at such things as how much it will cost to build a new courthouse, a new jail and new social services facilities, as well as the cost to increase staff to handle the higher demand for services.
It’s a long process, should the city ultimately decide to move in that direction. First, the Aurora City Council would have to pass a measure to ask city voters whether they want to form a city and county.
If that ballot measure is successful, then the state legislature would have to approve it before it went to a statewide vote.
The last community to form as a city and county was Broomfield, which made the change in November 2001. But Broomfield’s situation was much different from Aurora’s. Broomfield has about 55,000 residents and was spread out fairly evenly among Boulder, Weld, Adams and Jefferson counties.
When people wanted to get license plates, for example, they’d have to drive as far away as Greeley, Brighton or Golden. Now, services are more convenient.
And Broomfield actually saved money. The year before the consolidation, Broomfield residents gave Boulder $4 million in taxes while receiving $400,000 in services.
Aurora likely won’t see similar savings, at least for a while, as new government facilities would need to be built.
Chip Taylor, executive director of Colorado Counties Inc., said the Broomfield situation was not at all analogous to Aurora’s current position.
“Broomfield was lying in four different counties,” Taylor said. “It was a really working hardship getting their county services.”
Hogan said a big reason he wants a city and county is to gain better representation for Aurora at the county level. Only two of the five members on the Arapahoe County Board of Commissioners represent the city. Adams County is moving from three to five commissioners, and, Hogan said, odds are that none of those new ones will live in Aurora. No one from Aurora is represented on the Douglas County Board of Commissioners.
“All of the pass-through money (from the federal government) has (state) legislative action. They are all focused on counties, not on cities,” Hogan said.
Arapahoe County Commissioner Rod Bockenfeld said the county has worked with the consultant to provide it with the pertinent information. He said it would have a huge impact on his county, should Aurora decide to become a city and county.
While Arapahoe’s financial hit would be softened because it has affluent communities such as Cherry Hills and Greenwood Village with a flush property tax base, it could leave the county like a tattered shirt.
“It would divide Arapahoe County into four or five sections, and none of it would be contiguous,” Bockenfeld said.
But Hogan said it’s time for Aurora to either make a commitment to go for it or put his dream of one day becoming a city and county to bed — for good.
“It’s got to get settled,” Hogan said. “It’s been hanging out there. Let’s get this decided.”
Carlos Illescas: 303-954-1175, cillescas@denverpost.com or twitter.com/cillescasdp
