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Boulder Revised Code Home

1. Charter
2. Title 1 General Administration
3. Title 2 Government Organization
4. Title 3 Revenue and Taxation
1. Chapter 3-1 Definitions
2. Chapter 3-2 Sales and Use Tax
3. Chapter 3-3 Public Accommodations Tax
4. Chapter 3-4 Admissions Tax
5. »Chapter 3-5 Tax Refund Program
6. Chapter 3-6 Occupation Tax on Local Exchange Telephone Service Suppliers
7. Chapter 3-7 Occupation Tax
8. Chapter 3-8 Development Excise Tax
9. Chapter 3-9 Housing Excise Tax
10. Chapter 3-10 Trash Tax
11. Chapter 3-11 Education Excise Tax (Repealed)
12. Chapter 3-12 Climate Action Plan Excise Tax
13. Chapter 3-13 Utility Occupation Tax
5. Title 4 Licenses and Permits
6. Title 5 General Offenses
7. Title 6 Health, Safety and Sanitation
8. Title 7 Regulation of Vehicles, Pedestrians, and Parking
9. Title 8 Parks, Open Space, Streets, and Public Ways
10. Title 9 Land Use Regulation
11. Title 10 Structures
12. Title 11 Utilities and Airport
13. Title 12 Human Rights
14. Title 13 Elections and Campaign Disclosures and Activities
15. Title 14 Arts
16. Index
17. Ordinances Pending Codification

Page Contents

• 3-5-1 Legislative Intent
• 3-5-2 Definitions
• 3-5-3 Qualifications for Tax Refund
• 3-5-4 Refund Amount
• 3-5-5 Administration of Chapter

Chapter 3-5: Tax Refund Program²⁸

3-5-1 Legislative Intent.

The purpose of this chapter is to make refunds of estimated sales tax on the purchase of food to certain qualifying low income families and individuals in order to make more equitable the burden placed upon them by city sales taxes.

(Ordinance No. 5554 (1993))

3-5-2 Definitions.

The following terms used in this chapter have the following meanings unless the context clearly indicates others:

"Disabled" means a person receiving Supplemental Security Income or Social Security Disabled Income or certified as disabled by the Center for People with Disabilities, the Developmental Disabilities Center, or the Mental Health Center in and for Boulder County.

"Family" is defined in section 3-1-1, "Definitions," B.R.C. 1981.

"Income" means total income and is found on the following tax forms in the following places:

I.R.S. Form 1040	Line 22 "Total Income"
I.R.S. Form 1040EZ	Line 4 "Adjusted Gross Income"
I.R.S. Form 1040NR	Line 23 "Total Effectively Connected Income"

"Individual" is defined in section 3-1-1, "Definitions," B.R.C. 1981.

(Ordinance Nos. 5554 (1993); 7177 (2002))

3-5-3 Qualifications for Tax Refund.

Every person desiring to claim a tax refund shall submit to the city manager a verified, written application therefor signed under oath, on the form specified by the city manager and with the attachments required by the city manager, filed between March 1 and June 30 of the year subsequent to the year for which the refund application is made. Each applicant must satisfy the following qualifications to be entitled to a refund in the amount provided in section 3-5-4, "Refund Amount," B.R.C. 1981:

(a) The applicant must be one of the following categories of families or individuals:

(1) A family at least one of the members of which is a child under the age of eighteen who is the son or daughter of one of the other persons who is claiming the dependant deduction on his/her tax return as set forth on I.R.S. Form 1040, Section 6c, "Exemptions," or I.R.S. Form 1040NR, Section 7c, "Dependents;" or

(2) An individual who is disabled or over the age of sixty-one and who is not a member of a family which has applied or which subsequently applies for a refund for the same year.

(b) The applicant must have been a resident of the City of Boulder during the entire year for which the refund application is made.

(c) The applicant's income during the year for which the refund is requested must be no greater than fifty percent of the Area Median Income for Boulder County by family size, as published by the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development, or its successor agency, for such year.

(Ordinance Nos. 4812 (1984); 4897 (1985); 4971 (1986); 5470 (1992); 5554 (1993); 7177 (2002); 7202 (2002))

3-5-4 Refund Amount.

(a) If the applicant meets the requirements for a refund as set forth in section 3-5-3, "Qualifications for Tax Refund," B.R.C. 1981, the city manager shall refund, for calendar year 2001, $61.00 per individual and $183.00 per family.

(b) For each calendar year after 2001, the city manager shall also adjust the refund amounts set forth above in accordance with the change in the cost of living for the previous calendar year as shown in the "all items" category of the United States Department of Labor Consumer Price Index for all Urban Consumers for the metropolitan statistical area which includes the city. In the event that either of these data has not been published as of the start of the refund program during any particular year, then for the refund program during that year, the manager shall adjust the income levels, or the refund amounts, based on the manager's best estimate of the unknown data, but the manager shall take the subsequently published data, rather than the estimated data, into account in setting the qualifying income levels or refund amounts for the refund program for the following year.

(Ordinance Nos. 4897 (1985); 4971 (1986); 5043 (1987); 5115 (1988); 5185 (1989); 5283 (1990); 5385 (1991); 5470 (1992); 5554 (1993); 7177 (2002))

3-5-5 Administration of Chapter.

(a) The city manager shall administer the program established by this chapter and may prepare a refund application form, specifying attachments, such as, without limitation, income tax forms and other proof of income and residency, adjust qualifying income levels and refund amounts, adopt rules and regulations consistent with the provisions of this chapter, and audit and verify the applications submitted pursuant to this chapter. The city manager shall provide public notice of the tax refund application period annually, at least two weeks before it starts.

(b) Any refund application form shall require the claimant to verify and sign the application under oath. Any applicant who receives a refund based upon information provided by the applicant that is materially incorrect shall, within fifteen days of the mailing by first class mail of a written demand therefor from the city manager, repay the city the full amount of any excess refund that was based on this incorrect information, together with a penalty. The penalty shall be interest at the rate of eighteen percent per annum on the excess refund from the date the city paid the applicant the refund to the date the excess refund is repaid to the city.

(c) The burden of proving entitlement to a tax refund under this chapter is on the applicant. The city manager may require reasonable information to support the refund application, as long as such information is uniformly required of all similarly situated applicants. Upon audit, the manager may require all reasonable information necessary to support the claim of tax refund.

(d) If the city manager denies any claim for tax refund, the manager shall state the reasons therefor in writing to the claimant and indicate all or the portion of the claim that is being denied. If a claimant wishes to appeal the decision of the program administrator, the claimant must do so in writing within fourteen days of the date of mailing of the notice of denial. The claimant shall be thereupon entitled to a hearing before the manager to appeal the decision of the director, under the procedures established pursuant to sections 3-2-25, "Hearings (Applies to Entire Title)" and 3-2-26, "Appeals From City Manager's Decision (Applies to Entire Title)," B.R.C. 1981.

(Ordinance Nos. 5052 (1987); 5554 (1993); 7177 (2002))

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²⁸ Adopted by Ordinance No. 4610. Amended by Ordinance Nos. 4643, 4681, 4738, 7266. Derived from Ordinance Nos. 3974, 4010, 4071, 4198, 4331, 4406, 4476.

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