Colorado statute only allows home-rule counties and counties with 70,000 people to enlarge from 3 to 5 county commissioners and only in even-numbered years. The county commissioners declined to unilaterally place this measure on the ballot so a group called Big Tent Boulder County collected signatures to get it on the ballot.
A legislative effort in recent years to require the most populous counties to have 5 commissioners has not been successful.
Denver and Broomfield have a combined city-county government run by a city council and mayor. Weld and Pitkin Counties are home-rule counties and are not bound by Colorado statute for their commissioner structure. The nine remaining counties with a large enough population break down with 6 counties having 3 commissioners and 3 counties having 5 commissioners. A Jefferson County effort in 2014 to enlarge to 5 commissioners failed.
Recommendation: leaning yes
Opponents of Question 200 point to the added cost of two more commissioners, just as the county is cutting staff and services. The entire budget for fiscal year 2026 is $745 million so the $400K to $500K per commissioner for salary and benefits is not too much if the board of county commissioners (BOCC) is more representative of the county and makes better decisions.
With two more commissioners, Boulder County should have the opportunity for more diverse voices on the BOCC. Unfortunately, the four electoral options available in statute for Question 201 do not guarantee better representation because they continue the winner-take-all, non-proportional elections we have currently. While Boulder County is dominated by Democrats in elected office, there are enough Republican voters, not to mention unaffiliated voters, that these two groups deserve a commissioner on the BOCC.
Five commissioners could improve decision-making on the BOCC. When one of our 3 commissioners is absent, having only 2 commissioners make the decisions feels wrong. Also consider when Ben Pearlman was a county commissioner and applied to be the county attorney before his commissioner term was up; the politics of the other two commissioners deciding his future did not look good.
Website for the Yes Side – Big Tent Boulder County
https://www.bigtentboco.org/
Website for the No Side – No on 5 Commissioners
https://www.noon5commissioners.com/
Approved Ballot Language
Boulder County Ballot Question 200
Shall the membership of the Boulder County Board of Commissioners be increased from a three member board to a five member board?
YES/FOR ___
NO/AGAINST ___
Resolution 2025-056 to refer 200 and 201 to the voters
https://assets.bouldercounty.gov/wp-content/uploads/2026/09/Res_2026-056_ballot-measure.pdf
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