WATER

of a traditional grassy yard, and they look beautiful year after year. “ e garden kits help reduce the water bill saving about 7,300 gal- feel. Nobody wants to have their taxes raised, but public safety is a priority.”

Sales or property tax

But councilors could not agree on which tax they preferred. Both have their positives, Asher said.

“ ere are a lot of similarities, but some key di erences,” she said. “Any increase in taxes would require voter approval, so there is a process for both that is very similar.”

Sales taxes fall on people who live in the city but also on people who lons of water over the lifetime of a garden compared to lawns,” Lurie said.

Brighton utility customers receive a $25 discount when purchasing a garden kit. e garden kits can be reserved online starting March 1 and can picked up in May and fall. Gift certi cates are also available.

Tap into the benefits that CDs bring

shop in Brighton, buy gas or pay for services here. Property taxes largely fall on property owners.

Asher said city sta favors the property tax. A $2.50 mill rate increase would push Brighton’s property tax rate to $9.15 mills for every $1,000 of assessed property value. at’s still lower than most of the city’s neighbors, she said, including ornton, Northglenn, Dacono and Fort Lupton. It would increase property taxes on a $539,000 home by about $90 per year.

Lurie said the kit helps community members conserve water. e nonpro t partners with dozens of cities throughout the Denver metro region, and the City of Brighton o ers a $25 discount to encourage participation.

“ e program is incredibly popular and normally sells out by April.

“In terms of resiliency, property taxes are a nice steady option,” she said.

“Property taxes are tied to the value of our properties and those typically do not go down. ey are typically very stead and very predictable.”

Councilor Peter Padilla said he favored the 0.15% sales tax, which — along with county and state sales taxes — would push Brighton’s sales tax rate up to 8.65% and would increase costs by 15 cents for every $100 spent.

“While I’m supportive of either path, my argument for sales taxes would be that the sales are where the growth is coming from and that’s what is bringing the public safety issues to the community,” Padilla said. “And, the people that are coming to the community are bene ting from the increased public safety.”

Councilor Jan Pawlowski agreed that a sales tax increase makes more sense.

“You know, property values may increase but that doesn’t mean that the people have more money, substantially,” she said. “We’ve encouraged economic development along 120th and there hopefully will be more businesses coming in. I just think Iean more towards a sales tax than a property tax.”

Councilors would need to approve moving forward, creating the outreach committee and paying for the November election.

With so much attention on drought conditions in the news lately we expect to distribute more than 10,000 Garden In A Box kits this year,” Lurie said.

For more information, visit brightonco.gov/gardeninabox, email gardeninfo@resourcecentral.org, or call 303-999-3820 ext. 222.