A last-minute proposal has given the Old Colorado City Downtown Development Authority a path to avoid being dissolved.

The Colorado Springs City Council voted to delay the final decision on whether to dissolve the DDA until its next meeting on Sept. 22. The delay will allow for broader public comment on a resolution that would reverse a previous council vote and give the authority’s board one last chance to get a mill levy passed by voters.

The downtown development authority was established by voters in 2024 as a group to oversee and organize improvement projects along Colorado Avenue. In that election, voters approved three of the four questions about the authority but rejected a five-mill levy, which would be a primary source of funding for the group.

The City Council voted 5-4 to dissolve the group on Aug. 25 and Tuesday’s meeting was supposed to be the final vote. In between, the DDA board approved a resolution stating they would schedule a second ballot question about the mill levy in 2027. If voters within the DDA rejected the tax again, the authority would work with the council to dissolve itself.

“This is all to assuage people’s concerns and help them understand that we’re not being irrational. We are being pragmatic and practical. If it doesn’t pass, then that is the time to dissolve us,” business owner and DDA board president Adam Stepan said.

The lack of funding and the DDA board’s lack of major action were among the reasons councilmembers proposed dissolving the authority earlier this summer.

The authority’s board also agreed in the resolution to streamline the boundaries of what counts as part of downtown Old Colorado City, largely by removing businesses and residences that are not directly along Colorado Avenue.

The council initially voted 6-3 to take public comment on the proposal during Tuesday’s meeting, but later unanimously voted to delay because the comment period had not been part of the original agenda presented to residents.

“Several people have called, asking if they could come and speak on this item. They were told by staff and other individuals that there wouldn’t be any public comment today,” Councilmember Brandy Williams said.

Councilmembers Dave Donelson and Kimberly Gold voted to postpone while also highlighting the handful of Old Colorado City business owners who attended Tuesday and would now wait another two weeks to speak.

If the council agrees to keep the DDA in place through another election, Stepan was optimistic that the mill levy could pass on a second try. Stepan said there would be a much longer window of time to explain the levy and the benefits of the authority to voters.

Stepan said that the levy would allow the authority to hire a full-time executive director and pursue larger infill projects along Colorado Avenue. A business improvement district, which several city officials floated as an alternative tool to replace the DDA, would likely cover fewer blocks and require a much higher levy rate to reach the same funding level.

“I’ve seen a lot of things I support fail in a democratic vote, and I’m fine with that if it happens. What I’m not okay with is the voters choosing something and then other people saying they would not like that to be the solution,” Stepan said.

The mill levy question could potentially appear on either Colorado Springs’ municipal election ballots in April 2027 or the general election ballots run through El Paso County in November 2027.

City Clerk Sarah Johnson said that for either date, the downtown development authority would cover the cost of getting the question on the ballot. Johnson estimated it would cost around $20,000 to get the issue on the April ballot if the City Council approved the plan.