Dan Wheeler and Pam Bricker File TABOR Complaint Against the City of Greeley
City proposes to use nearly all city properties as collateral to build a hockey complex without a vote of Greeley residents
Greeley, Colo. (August 20, 2025)
Last night, Greeley residents Dan Wheeler and Pam Bricker filed a complaint in Weld County District Court alleging the City of Greeley is in violation of Colorado’s Taxpayer Bill of Rights (TABOR) statute due to its extraordinarily risky financing deal for the Cascadia Project.
Notably, Greeley City Council has proposed mortgaging and/or collateralizing over 60 city properties to pay for the hockey arena and other amenities. The action of entering into long-term fiscal obligations without voter approval is in violation of TABOR.
“Without a clause that requires or even allows the city council to appropriate the fiscal debt each year, it fits the definition of long-term fiscal debt. Because of the fact that Greeley has literally mortgaged practically every property it owns to help finance this deal, Greeley cannot use discretion to appropriate this debt each year,” said Suzanne Taheri, counsel for Dan Wheeler and Pam Bricker. “This is extremely complicated, but the easiest analogy is if you take out a lease for a car, miss a payment, and your house is repossessed. In this case, Greeley is proposing using buildings, parks, and even the Greeley Family Fun Center as collateral for the Cascadia Project.”
From the complaint:
“To pay for the developers’ $115 million in pre-development costs, the City of Greeley adopted a financial structure designed to circumvent legal barriers anchored in the State Constitution and the City Charter that mandated such important fiscal decisions must be approved by the voters. But as structured and utilized in this development project, the COPs operate as a lease buy back that clearly violate the Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights (“TABOR”) prohibition on multi-year fiscal debt without a vote of the people. Colo. Const. art. X §20. Contrary to claims in the text of the Ordinance and finance contracts, Ordinance No. 15, 2025 results in the City of Greeley entering into long-term fiscal obligations without the approval of the City of Greeley voters.”
The complaint further contextualizes this terrible deal noting that this financing deal creates a level of debt that places Greeley and its residents in a perilous financial position, and places it in violation of its own charter, which says it is not allowed to transfer a park without a public vote.
“I’m a Greeley native, have lived in Greeley my whole life, and have been part of some of the area’s most exciting projects, but this one is different. I joined this effort to stand up for Greeley residents whose voices were being silenced by this unlawful process. Greeley residents deserve a public debate about this risky financial scheme,” said Plaintiff Pam Bricker, former executive director of the Greeley Downtown Development Authority. “This process was specifically designed to circumvent TABOR and it’s just not right. What happens if Greeley loses its police and fire stations? Or its municipal buildings? Or even our parks? It will destroy the fabric of our community.”
Funds generated by certificates of participation (COPs) are only available because the City of Greeley collateralized numerous essential city properties and agreed to lease back their own properties to benefit the developer. Among the 46 original properties pledged are:
Greeley City Hall
Greeley Police Department
Three Greeley Fire Stations
Ten properties owned by Greeley and overseen by the Greeley Culture, Parks, and Recreation Department (CPRD), such as the Greeley Museum, two golf courses, and a dedicated park
Earlier this week, the City of Greeley added 16 additional properties to the list of those collateralized, including the public safety training facility, the Balsam Pool and Balsam Sports Complex, the Family FunPlex, the Twin Rivers Softball Complex, and the Union Colony Civic Center.
“And, herein lies the problem – collateralizing Greeley’s buildings and real property in this manner creates a multi-year fiscal obligation without voter approval,” said Taheri. “While the issue is complex, law is clear – this action violates TABOR. The City of Greeley also is considering potentially reducing public safety resources at the same time it is also talking about welcoming more people to the Greeley community. It’s a recipe for public safety breakdown.”
The plaintiffs are asking the Weld County District Court to:
Declare that Ordinance 15-2025 violates TABOR;
Declare that the ordinance also violates the city charter;
Declare that the ordinance violates Article V, Section 1 of the Colorado Constitution because it contains a nonrepeal clause;
Declare that any property managed by CPRD is a park for the purposes of the city charter;
Void any COPs issued illegally as of the date of the Court’s ruling;
Prevent Greeley from using COPs to generate funding unrelated to the properties being leveraged;
Invalidate the finance contracts so the bond holders won’t be legally obligated to repay;
Award attorney’s fees and costs; and
Any other relief that the Court finds just and equitable
Weld County District Court has not yet set a hearing date or any additional dates in this process, but the process typically requires the defendant to submit a response.
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