Niwot's busiest six weeks of the year are paid for mostly by one source: a 1% sales tax collected only inside the village's downtown business district. Two parades, a haunted house, the tree lighting and the holiday lights all draw on that same money. On Oct. 6, the Niwot Local Improvement District Advisory Committee heard three funding requests from the Niwot Business Association, covering Halloween, holiday lighting and the Holiday Magic events that run into December. Together they come to just under $33,000.
That number is smaller than many people would guess. It's also roughly a fifth of the $151,881 the district collected in sales tax from January through July 2026, a stretch that included none of the holiday shopping season.
Saturday, Oct. 31, Starting at 10 a.m.
This year the Great Pumpkin Party falls on Halloween itself, Saturday, Oct. 31. Much of Second Avenue closes to traffic from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Here is how the morning runs, according to the Left Hand Valley Courier's event preview:
- 10 a.m. Trick-or-treating opens at businesses on Second Avenue and in Cottonwood Square.
- 11 a.m. Kids in costume meet in the Left Hand Corner parking lot for a performance by Niwot Elementary School students. The Golden Hammer Award goes to a community volunteer at this point. The award honors the late Curtis Lizakowski, who helped build the bandstand at Whistle Stop Park, and the plaque listing past recipients hangs in the deli at Niwot Market.
- 11:30 a.m. The parade heads down Second Avenue, led by the Niwot Community Semi-Marching Free Grange Band playing "I Want Candy." Kids can walk or bike the route, and dogs in costume are welcome.
- After the parade Left Hand Animal Hospital judges a dog costume contest in front of The Old Oak Coffeehouse and picks three winners.
The morning also has hayrides, which board at Franklin Street and Second Avenue and loop between Second Avenue and Cottonwood Square. There's a petting zoo, live music and a magic show. The Niwot High School Key Club builds and runs a haunted house in the former Excel Electric building at the northwest corner of Second Avenue and Murray Street. Everything is free.
The party began more than 30 years ago. Pat Murphy started it with Tim and Carrie Wise of Wise Buys Antiques and Jim and Irma Knoch, who owned the Niwot Antique Emporium at the time. Pat is part of our team, The Niwot Group at Compass, and she still organizes the event. She told the Courier the first planning happened at Rev Taylor's.
Who Pays for the Hayride
The candy and the hayride come from different budgets. In the same Courier report, Murphy said merchants buy their own candy for the more than 1,000 trick-or-treaters who come through. The district's money covers most of the remaining cost. Of the party's estimated $7,500 cost, the LID approved $5,885 for the hayride, magic show, petting zoo, haunted house, county permits and advertising. Murphy and the participating businesses cover the balance. Her request ran about $1,000 higher than last year's. "Everything has gone up a bit," she told the paper.
The two holiday requests followed the same pattern, with the district carrying most of the cost and organizers adding a smaller share:
| October 2026 request | LID funding | Other contributions | What it pays for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Great Pumpkin Party | $5,885 approved | Murphy and merchants cover the rest of the ~$7,500 total, and businesses buy their own candy | Hayride, magic show, petting zoo, haunted house, permits, ads |
| Holiday lighting | $9,201 approved | $500 from the Niwot Business Association | Lights downtown and in the park |
| Holiday Magic | $17,881 requested | Fayre vendor fees plus $500 from the NBA | Enchanted Evening, the parade, two Holiday Fayres, 500 candy canes, 250 Niwot shopping bags |
In the lighting application, Angela Hudgins, the NBA's administrative coordinator, pointed out that the lights at the park can be seen from the highway. She called that "a great draw into town," according to the Courier.
Events are only part of what the district pays for. Earlier in 2026, the committee approved $16,000 for maintenance, covering snow removal, electricity for streetlights and EV chargers, tree care and upkeep of the Sculpture Park. In April it approved $13,200 for 132 flower planters, 112 downtown and 20 in Cottonwood Square, plus $2,407 for 36 replacement light-pole banners.
Where the Penny Comes From
The district has been around longer than the holiday parade's current format. It began in 1992, when residents and property owners voted for a 0.5% sales tax to pay for streets, curbs, sidewalks and lighting on Second Avenue. Voters added another 0.5% in 2007. According to the county's 2022–2026 strategic plan, allowed uses now go well past pavement and include maintenance and organizing and promoting public events.
The penny shows up on receipts. Boulder County's 2026 sales tax table lists a combined rate of 6.335% inside the Niwot LID and 5.335% in parts of Niwot outside it. The 1% difference is the district's special-district tax. The Courier describes the tax as applying to everything sold in the business district except grocery food. This is general information, not tax advice. If you run a business and need to know how the rate applies to you, check with the county or your accountant.
Spending decisions go through a nine-member advisory committee. Its seats are set aside for one Niwot Business Association representative, one Niwot Community Association representative, four businesses that pay the tax and three Niwot residents. The committee makes recommendations, and the Boulder County commissioners sit as the district's board of directors.
The district's finances explain why the October requests passed without much trouble. Each year's budget allowance is set at 80% of tax collections from two years earlier, which put 2026 at just under $200,000. Approving all three requests would bring the district to 108% of that allowance. When that happens, the LID asks the commissioners for a budget increase and usually gets one. The reserve fund sits at just over $500,000, and the bylaws require only $60,000.
Collections through July 2026 came in less than 1% below the same period in 2025. The 2025 figure, though, included a one-time payment of about $16,000 from a single business after an audit, covering several years of taxes. Treasurer Mary Coonce explained the adjustment to the Courier:
"If we take out the audit, we're up 10%."
So after the adjustment, ordinary spending in the district grew this year. Each taxable dollar of that spending puts another penny toward next fall's hayride and lights.
Three Weekends After Thanksgiving
Holiday Magic picks up where Halloween leaves off. It comes from the same LID request, and the same small group runs it. Deborah Fowler, president of the NBA, presented the request. The events are coordinated by Deborah and Andrew Fowler and Linda and Chuck Klueber, who the Courier says have long championed them.
Enchanted Evening, Friday, Nov. 27, 6 to 9 p.m. On the day after Thanksgiving, the Grange Band from the Halloween parade plays a holiday concert at Left Hand Corner. Santa arrives by horse-drawn sleigh at 6 p.m. and lights the large pine tree in the Niwot Sculpture Park. Then he moves to Niwot Hall to meet kids from 6:30 to 8 p.m. Carolers and musicians perform around Old Town and Cottonwood Square, and the hayrides run between them.
Holiday Parade, Saturday, Nov. 28. The parade falls on Small Business Saturday. The niwot.com listing gives the time as 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., running along Second Avenue from Murray Street to Niwot Road, with Santa at the Grange afterward. Check that page before you head out.
Holiday Magic Market Fayre, Saturdays, Dec. 5 and Dec. 12, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Both Fayres take place at Niwot Hall. On the evening of Dec. 5, singer Rebecca Folsom gives a holiday concert.
If Niwot Hall doesn't ring a bell, it's the old Left Hand Grange building. At the end of 2023, the building was conveyed to a newly formed nonprofit called Niwot Hall. The Courier reported the new name in November 2024 and noted that Left Hand Grange No. 9 stays based there. Niwot Hall president Jim Dorvee said the change was meant to make the building work as a wider community venue.
You can also eat on the parade route. Taverna Laudisio opened in June at 121 Second Avenue, in the old 1914 House space. The Laudisio family runs it, and former 1914 House chef Justin Hirshfield is involved, according to Colorado Expression.
Pat has organized Halloween on Second Avenue for more than three decades, and the rest of The Niwot Group will be out on the parade route on Oct. 31 too. If the season has you wondering what your own place in the village is worth, ask us for a free home valuation. We'll give you an honest number, and you might hear a little more Great Pumpkin Party history along the way.
