One of the loudest questions around the Weld County Justice Center is whether the project complies with Section 14-8 of the Weld County Home Rule Charter.
I know. That is a fair question. I was the one who was asking it. Sternly.
Large public projects deserve scrutiny. Taxpayers deserve straight answers. And when the Charter is involved, we should not wave it away like an inconvenient fly at a picnic.
The Charter matters.
I believe that. I have said that. I will keep saying that.
Weld County will comply with the Weld County Home Rule Charter. Weld County will comply with state law. And Weld County is not proposing a tax increase for the Justice Center.
That last sentence matters.
A lot.
When Section 14-8 was first brought to my attention nearly a year ago, I read it and had a pretty simple reaction:
“Well, what we’re looking at costs more than the Charter limit, so we must send it to the voters.”
That was my first read.
Our county attorneys politely suggested – more than once – that I was interpreting Section 14-8 incorrectly.
I was not convinced.
In fact, I was pretty sure I was right. I viewed Section 14-8 through the lens I know best: TABOR. I have spent my entire public-service life operating under TABOR, and I am grateful for it. Asking voters before raising taxes is not a burden. It is a feature. It is how government should work.
So, my instinct was simple: large project, big number, send it to the people.
As the Justice Center discussion moved forward, we worked with staff and our project team to fit the project within what many of us believed were the confines of Section 14-8. Eventually, three of the five commissioners supported a “three-project” approach: parking garage, core and shell, and tenant finish.
Commissioner Maxey and I could not support that plan.
Our concern was straightforward. If this was truly one project, we believed it should be treated as one project and sent to the voters. Frankly, building it as one coordinated project is also cheaper and more efficient than artificially chopping it up. I do not like government games, and I do not like clever workarounds.
Then our county attorneys kept digging.
Deputy County Attorney Matt Conroy, in particular, made a field trip to the CU Law Library. He immersed himself in the statutes of the mid-1970s, the notes of the Weld County Charter Commission from 1974 and 1975, and other historical materials to understand what the Charter drafters were actually trying to accomplish.
He came back with something we badly needed: 1970s context.
And context matters.
The public debate around Section 14-8 has often been reduced to a simple claim: “Any project over a certain dollar amount must go to a vote.”
That may sound clean, but the actual language is more specific than that. And in law, words matter. All of them. Not just the ones that fit neatly on a social media graphic.
Section 14-8 refers to a capital project requiring a capital expenditure out of funds procured by ad valorem taxation equal to a three-mill levy for three years, unless approved by voters. Weld County’s own Justice Center materials summarize Section 14-8 as allowing a capital expenditure for any one project using taxpayer funds if it is less than the ad valorem taxation equal to a three-mill levy for three years, or approximately $177 million per project.
You can read the county’s summary in the May 2026 update, “Board advances Justice Center CM/GC RFP”, and in the county release on Fentress Studios being selected for design services.
Here is the key point: Section 14-8 does not simply say, “Any project costing more than X dollars.”
It speaks in the language of property taxation.
“Ad valorem taxation.”
“Three-mill levy.”
“Three years.”
That is not accidental wording. That is tax language.
And the history matters.
Weld County was thinking like TABOR before TABOR was cool.
Weld County’s Home Rule Charter was drafted in 1974 and 1975 and went into effect on January 1, 1976. That was long before Colorado voters approved TABOR in 1992. Weld County’s Home Rule Charter history explains that residents elected a 21-member charter commission in 1974, that the charter was presented to voters in September 1975, and that it took effect in 1976.
The Colorado General Assembly’s TABOR overview explains that TABOR was approved by voters in 1992 and requires voter approval for tax increases.
That is where my thinking changed. I had been reading Section 14-8 with a TABOR mindset.
When Weld County’s charter drafters wrote Section 14-8 in the mid-1970s, they were writing before TABOR existed. They were building taxpayer protections into county government before Colorado had the modern statewide tax-limitation system we know today.
That matters because Section 14-8 reads like a taxpayer-protection provision aimed at limiting major projects financed through property tax levies. It does not read like a blanket spending cap on every dollar the county may use, no matter where that dollar came from.
That distinction is not legal hair-splitting. It is the whole ballgame.
If the Charter drafters intended to write a simple project cost cap, they could have said so. They could have written, “Any capital project costing more than a certain amount must go to a vote.”
But they did not.
They tied the language to ad valorem taxation and measured it in mills over years.
That strongly suggests the concern was taxation – specifically, preventing commissioners from using increased property tax levies to finance very large capital projects without voter approval.
That is different from saying the Charter created a blanket spending cap on every project regardless of funding source.
And on the Justice Center, let me say it again:
Weld County is not proposing a tax increase.
The Justice Center FAQ says the county is not pursuing a tax increase or bond measure for this project and that the project is structured to be delivered without raising taxes.
That is not a side note. That is central.
Now, I know there is disagreement about Section 14-8. Some people read it differently. I did too.
I started there.
But after reviewing the actual language, listening to the legal analysis, and seeing the historical context our attorneys uncovered, I believe my original interpretation was wrong.
That is not always a fun sentence to write. But it is an important one.
Public officials should be willing to say, “I learned more, and my position changed.” That should not be rare. Unfortunately, in politics, admitting you were wrong is treated like passing a kidney stone on live television.
But facts matter more than pride.
The strongest reading of Section 14-8 is that it was designed as a taxpayer-protection provision aimed at limiting major projects financed through property tax increases. It was not designed as a blanket prohibition on spending existing county revenues on mandatory county responsibilities.
And remember, the Justice Center is not optional. Colorado law requires counties to provide court facilities. Under C.R.S. 13-3-108, county commissioners are responsible for providing and maintaining adequate courtrooms and other court facilities. Under C.R.S. 13-6-304, county commissioners shall provide court facilities at the county seat.
Our Charter also requires Weld County to comply with state law and perform the mandatory functions of a county. We will do that.
So, the questions should be clear:
Are taxes being raised for the Justice Center?
No.
Is Weld County required under state law to provide court facilities?
Yes.
Will Weld County comply with the Home Rule Charter?
Yes.
The Charter was written to protect taxpayers and keep county government accountable. I support that. I also believe we can honor the Charter, comply with state law, refuse to raise taxes, and build the court facilities Weld County is legally required to provide.
All of those things can be true at the same time.
Sources
Weld County Home Rule Charter:
https://www.weld.gov/Government/County-Governance/Home-Rule-Charter
Weld County Justice Center — Board advances CM/GC RFP:
https://wcjc.weld.gov/News-Articles/News-and-Information/Board-advances-Justice-Center-CMGC-RFP
Weld County — Fentress Studios selected for Justice Center design services:
https://www.weld.gov/Newsroom/2026-News/Fentress-Studios-selected-for-justice-center-full-design-services
Weld County Justice Center — FAQs:
https://wcjc.weld.gov/FAQs
Colorado General Assembly — TABOR overview:
https://content.leg.colorado.gov/agencies/legislative-council-staff/tabor
C.R.S. 13-3-108 — Maintenance of court facilities / capital improvements:
https://law.justia.com/codes/colorado/title-13/courts-of-record/article-3/section-13-3-108/
C.R.S. 13-6-304 — Court facilities at the county seat:
https://law.justia.com/codes/colorado/title-13/courts-of-record/article-6/part-3/section-13-6-304/
