Ballot Issue 2C: Vibrant Denver bond, $30 million for a Sun Valley health clinic and children’s advocacy center

The Vibrant Denver bond package would fund nearly $1 billion in capital infrastructure projects across Denver with long-term debt.

The package is split into five different categories on the ballot — transportation and mobility, parks and recreation, health and human services, city infrastructure and facilities, and housing and shelter.

The health and human services proposal, 2C, funds about $30 million for just two projects: a new $10 million building for the Denver Children's Advocacy Center and a new Denver Health clinic in Sun Valley.

Here’s the language you’ll see on your ballot:

Without imposing any new tax, shall City and County of Denver debt be increased $30,100,000, with a maximum repayment cost of $57,000,000, to be used for repairs and improvements to health and human services infrastructure and facilities, including but not limited to:

Building a new Denver Health Westside Family Health Center to provide affordable medical services and increase availability of care; and
Building an expansion to the Denver Children’s Advocacy Center to provide victim assistance, treatment, and trauma and mental health care;

By the issuance and payment, or refinancing, of general obligation bonds, notes, or other obligations; and shall the taxes authorized at the city’s bond election in 2007 be extended and authorized to pay or refinance the debt authorized at this election in addition to the debt authorized at such prior election; and shall city ad valorem property taxes be increased without limitation as to rate but not more than an extended maximum amount of $7,966,660 annually, with the city to publicly report such expenditures annually?

How would it work?

The 2C package includes about $30 million of debt for projects, which could accrue about $27 million in interest over several decades.

Both projects would build on existing city services and facilities. The Denver Children’s Justice Center is meant to facilitate faster, better responses to reports of child abuse and neglect.

The building would bring staff from the Denver Police Department, Denver Human Services, the District Attorney’s Office, Denver Health, and Denver Children's Advocacy Center under one roof. Advocates say it would benefit at-risk youth with “forensic interview rooms, therapy spaces, medical exam rooms, bilingual support, sensory-friendly design.”

The DCAC said demand for treatment at its existing youth justice center is outpacing supply. Last year, it served over 1,300 kids, with over 600 receiving treatment.

Another $20 million of 2C would go toward a major renovation of Denver Health’s Sam Sandos Westside Family Health Center in Sun Valley. The renovated health clinic would offer services like dental care, OB/GYN services, physical therapy, radiology and more. It would improve health care in Sun Valley, one of Denver’s poorest neighborhoods.

Vibrant Denver would be funded by the city’s existing property tax rates. Denver property owners pay 6.5 mills of taxes to pay down the city’s bonds. If some or all of Vibrant Denver is rejected, the city would instead use that money to repay its existing debt faster.

For more information on the bond package and how it works, check out our main explainer.