What are General Improvement Districts (GID)?
General Improvement Districts (GIDs) are autonomous special assessment districts created by stakeholders in an area to fund improvements they desire to see in their neighborhood through a collective budget and operating plan. GIDs helps stakeholders realize their vision for their neighborhood and put property owners, businesses and residents in charge of their own destiny.
GIDs are not imposed on neighborhoods – they are created by neighborhood stakeholders, for the betterment of the place they call home. Property owners, residents and business determine the boundaries, the amount they want to raise and how to assess those fees, and what services they want to deliver and how. Stakeholders in an area govern the district and manage its day-to-day operations. GIDs can hire staff, contract for services and create formal partnerships for service with the City of Denver, other districts, and other community partners.
GIDs (and similar tools like Business Improvement Districts (BIDs) are highly-proven and highly-successful tools not only utilized in Denver and Colorado but all over the country and all around the globe. Locally, GIDs in the RiNo Art District, Ballpark, Sun Valley, 14th Street and the Gateway neighborhood have invested millions and leveraged even more to support safety, beautification, infrastructure, maintenance and more.
More information on GIDs and other special districts in the City and County of Denver can be found here.
Where are there other GIDs in Denver?
There are currently five other GIDs operating in Denver, including:
- Gateway Denver GID: Gateway was the city’s first GID, formed in 1995 and continuously operating since then. The Gateway GID was formed to provide common areas services within a primarily residential area, including but not limited to landscaping and maintenance, snow removal and lighting. They are funded by a 10 mill assessment on the assessed value of property and generate approximately $1.5 million annually.
- 14th Street Denver GID: The 14th Street GID was formed in 2009 to provide additional funding for capital construction and maintenance along 14th Street, matching a $10 million contribution from the City of Denver. The GID was a result of a public-private partnership involving the City, the Downtown Denver Partnership and property owners along 14th Street. In 2010 the district issued $4M worth of bonds to augment the city’s funding to enhance the design for 14th Street. There are two zones of assessment – premium and standard. The annual operating budget is approximately $275,000 and the annual capital budget is approximately $310,000.
- RiNo Denver GID: The RiNo GID was formed in 2015 with two primary purposes. The first was to fund $3 million worth of enhancements to the City’s $26 million Brighton Boulevard investment; the second was to generate funding for maintenance of Brighton Boulevard as well as other funding to support investments in infrastructure and beautification projects within the district, including the RiNo Park, the riverfront promenade and 35th Street. The GID has two assessment mechanisms – a mill levy of 4 mills against the assessed values of residential and commercial property in the area, as well as a linear front footage charge of $10/linear foot based for those properties fronting Brighton Blvd. The linear front footage charge expires once the $3 million loan is paid off. Collectively, the two assessments generate just under $3 million annually.
- Sun Valley Denver GID: The Sun Valley GID was formed in 2022 to provide maintenance to the under-development Sun Valley area. The district provides funding for ungraded stormwater, sanitary and waterlines, as well as upgraded roadway, pedestrian and multi-modal improvements, and new streetscapes and greenway infrastructure throughout the GID. The assessment rate is 6 mills on the assessed value of residential and commercial property with an 8 mill cap. Because the area is still in development, the current annual operating budget is $100,000 but that is expected to grow in the coming years.
- Ballpark Denver GID: The Ballpark Denver GID was formed in 2024 to provide investments in security, homeless outreach and navigation, cleaning, public amenity maintenance, neighborhood branding and beautification. The assessment rate is 5 mills on the assessed value of residential and commercial property. The district generates approximately $1.3 million annually and that funding is augmented by contributions from the Colorado Rockies and other exempt service providers.
Additionally, the Broadway Merchants Association in Denver is currently working to form a GID that would cover Broadway and the Western edge of Lincoln from 6th Avenue to I-25. They are currently petitioning and hoping to go through the City Council Process this summer. If those two steps are successfully achieved, they will hold their election to form and fund the district in November 2025.
What is the process to form a GID?
The GID formation process is a lengthy one, often taking 12-24 months from inception to completion. There are three primary phases in GID formation:
- GID Feasibility Study: The feasibility study was initiated in January 2025 and will conclude in August 2025. The feasibility study includes:
- Stakeholder engagement with property owners, residents, businesses and other stakeholder groups
- Analysis of property data, to understand number of stakeholders, total value of property, and potential revenue that could be generated from a district
- Informational meetings about the GID and initial indications of support, and for what types of services
- Understanding high level cost and service delivery costs and what the possibilities are for delivering on the desires of stakeholders
- Refinements to the study area map, if needed, including preliminary identification of different interests geographically within the study area
- Final report which lays out the feasibility of success in forming the GID, to be completed by July/August 2025
- Business Plan Formation, Petition and City Council: Assuming there is support to move the district forward in some or all of the study area, the next step would be developing a detailed operating plan and beginning the statutory process to form the GID. If things move forward, this process would occur between Fall 2025 and Summer 2026. This would include:
- Creating a detailed business and operating plan which would set out all the operational details of the district, including but not limited to the intent of the district, final boundaries and zones of service if desired, projects and services the district would fund, the assessment rate and budget, governance and management structures, term of the district and other details.
- Petitioning – Once the business plan is created, the plan would be the basis for the petitioning effort. Individuals could review the plan and then signatures are collected from electors to put it on the ballot for a vote. The GID statute says that you must obtain signatures from 200 electors or 30% of the total electors, whichever is less. In this case the 200 would be the lesser number.
- City Council – Once adequate petitions are collected, they are submitted to the City of Denver and a public hearing is held. Following the public hearing, Council may adopt an ordinance to allow the district to move forward to an election.
- TABOR Election: The final step in the GID formation process is a special mail ballot election, conducted in accordance with the November election timeframe. If this GID was to move forward, this process would occur in the Fall of 2026. Ballots would be mailed in mid-October of 2026 and would be opened November 3, 2026. A simple majority of ballots returned must vote in favor for the district to pass.
If the district is passed, funds would begin being collected – and services delivered – in January 2027.