City also commits to helping residents secure grants and loans to offset expected $8 million-$10 million in annexation costs.

The City of Boulder has offered San Lazaro residents a forgivable $1.3 million loan from Affordable and Attainable Housing Tax funding to support the resident’s purchase of their mobile home park.

In addition to this initial funding, the city is encouraging residents to move forward with annexation into the city of Boulder, which would unlock additional funding. The city is limited in the support it can provide since San Lazaro is not within city of Boulder city limits. Staff is actively working with residents to help them understand the process, cost and advantages of annexation into the city. The $1.3 million loan would be forgiven upon annexation into the city.

The city also hopes to help offset some of the cost of annexation, which is anticipated to be between $8-10 million. Annexation would provide the community with clean, reliable water and connection to the city’s sewer treatment system. A more defined cost would emerge through the annexation process, which could take a year or more to implement, and the city is committed to actively looking for both grants and loans to reduce this expense.

“We have been following the efforts made by the residents of San Lazaro and I am so impressed by the leadership their committee has shown in navigating the challenging process of creating a resident-owned community,” said City Manager Nuria Rivera-Vandermyde. “The community members in San Lazaro work in the city, have children who attend our schools and are an important part of the fabric of our community. We are eager to support them in any way we can, even as we face limitations about how we can use city funds and a constrained budget.”

Much of the city’s funding is limited by requirements that mandate funds be spent within city limits. The Affordable and Attainable Housing Tax funding that the city is offering to support San Lazaro is a funding source collected by the county to help fund affordable housing and related services across Boulder County. Through annexation, San Lazaro may qualify for additional funding in future years.

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