In November 2022, Boulder County residents approved a countywide sales and use tax for the purpose of funding wildfire mitigation efforts to proactively address the increasing risk of wildfires. A key programmatic area funded by the tax is to create community resiliency by expanding the Wildfire Partners program to serve residents of the east county and continuing to work with residents in the west county. Wildfire Partners, a program within Boulder County’s Community Planning & Permitting department, empowers homeowners to proactively mitigate their properties with a focus on maintaining those mitigation efforts over time. Wildfire Partners is developing a rebate program associated with a public awareness campaign to encourage Boulder County homeowners to actively participate in wildfire mitigation. Funding for these rebates will be provided by the County through the Wildfire Mitigation Sales and Use Tax. Rebate Program Overview and Goals In January 2024, Wildfire Partners will launch a public awareness campaign, “Boulder County – Wildfire Happens Here.” As part of that campaign, Wildfire Partners also will release “Calls to Action” targeting specific actions homeowners should take to mitigate and protect their properties. Four of these “Calls to Action” will be tied to a financial rebate program to incent participation and increase visibility of the public awareness campaign. The goals of the Rebate Program are to: * Effectively provide rebate opportunities for wildfire mitigation actions to Boulder County homeowners. * Motivate homeowners to increase the pace and scale of their mitigation efforts linked to the “Calls to Action” in Wildfire Partners’ public awareness campaign. * Empower Boulder County homeowners to better understand, recognize, value, and maintain wildfire mitigation actions. * Secure the faith and trust of stakeholders and citizens that funds were used prudently and successfully.
