Monday, September 21, 2026, 9 a.m. (Denver time), Parr-Widener Community Room, Room 389
This Budget Hearings meeting, chaired by Council Member Diana Romero Campbell, opened the council's review of the mayor's proposed 2027 budget. The Department of Finance presented an economic update showing stabilizing indicators, a revenue forecast with roughly 1% general fund growth driven largely by sales tax, an operating budget that avoids layoffs, furloughs, and tax increases while funding a 2% merit increase, and a six-year capital improvement program. Council members questioned staff and the mayor on downtown recovery, reserve replenishment toward the 15% target, the Denver Post building settlement and lease, fleet electrification, human services funding risks, the Xcel franchise agreement, and reporting changes for on-call FTEs. Staff made several follow-up commitments, including providing a Denver Post building cash flow statement and a list of how council priorities were addressed.
0:02 bad to just we're doing.
0:49 We all budget hearings for
0:49 2027 budget. I'm Diana Romero,
0:51 Campbell, and I represent
0:54 Southeast Denver in District
0:55 4. So lets get started with
0:57 introductions and we have
0:57 members online. So I'm gonna
1:00 turn it over that. To them to
1:01 introduce themselves and then
1:05 we'll go around the room. Good
1:06 morning. Paul Kashmann Shout
1:18 Tendra District 6.
1:26 Councilmember Torres. Well, 18
1:27 minutes full. Welcome back in
1:31 critique. My staff.
1:33 Councilmember Torres is
1:35 online, but we'll come back
1:37 around room and can everyone
1:40 have And I will start to my
1:43 Good morning on a cold chief
1:46 financial officer chief
1:46 operating officer them. And
1:50 time to Amber just recurrence
1:51 morning do want some fine
1:52 district and a certified
1:55 Socialist District. 8, Jacques
1:56 Rogge, way to partly finance.
1:57 Justin thanks. Budget
2:02 management district my Number
2:08 one issue a city every policy
2:08 Kevin Flynn, Southwest, a
2:12 number of district, 2 it. That
2:13 is the key districts morning
2:20 said I can still large Times
2:23 Timbers Ian Lee to cover
2:25 generator staffed and great
2:29 we'll go back up to up the
2:29 sounds too good to have that
2:32 she has. She has She's a
2:34 around thank you for setting
2:38 up the challenge. Will have
2:40 that sent out to everyone has
2:42 an So first, I just want to
2:43 also doing thank you. Thank
2:46 you. To Vic Tim and the mayor
2:47 staff for sending this stuff.
2:48 Really appreciate all the work
2:51 and effort that went into and
2:52 preparing to stay. We have a
2:55 very busy week and we also
2:56 know that the mayor is running
2:56 just a little bit behind that.
2:59 He will join us in just a
3:03 minute. But before we do get
3:06 started, we we spent time in
3:11 our budget workshop and put a
3:12 budget, you know, priorities
3:14 of what we were most concerned
3:14 about and what we really
3:17 wanted to see in this budget.
3:18 And I think that there are
3:20 things that we do see
3:21 reflected in the probably also
3:22 will be questions where are
3:23 those things in the budget and
3:25 how are we going to maintain
3:29 them just for I think for the
3:30 viewing public to also know
3:32 that just a reminder, one of
3:33 our priorities was to increase
3:34 community safety. And there
3:36 are a number of things under
3:37 that that aren't just about.
3:41 Our safety department thinking
3:43 about how we keep our
3:44 neighborhoods and communities
3:48 through prevention. We also
3:49 have things in there that we
3:50 talked about empowering weeks
3:53 and there we will see
3:54 presented within the agencies
3:57 that come addressing housing
3:58 needs again, still such a
4:00 critical need that we have in
4:04 the city county of and in our
4:07 budget. Could morning in our
4:09 budget not only addressing
4:10 homelessness, but also
4:12 thinking about how we making
4:13 sure that families have
4:16 pathway for housing for coming
4:18 And then supporting workers
4:20 and businesses number of
4:21 things. And they're
4:24 prioritizing climate.
4:26 Response. We're just going
4:28 goals and improving campers,
4:29 infrastructure again, we have
4:30 lots of things that are
4:31 happening within our city and
4:35 we want to be responsive to
4:38 that. And finally, just
4:39 building healthy communities.
4:39 And I think this really gets
4:43 back to Department of Public
4:44 Health and environment
4:48 ensuring that we have, you are
4:51 where where are we on justice
4:52 thinking about how we are
4:54 caring for all of children and
4:58 families in and then what came
5:00 up a little bit nuanced and
5:01 different was also the reason
5:03 basic city services and so
5:04 within our presentations this
5:08 week, we can see all of the
5:12 agencies to also show within
5:13 the reductions that have
5:15 happened over last number of
5:17 years. Last couple of Where
5:19 are we with our basic services
5:22 and how we best our facing for
5:22 the residents of the city and
5:26 county of Denver. So again,
5:28 thank you. I will turn it over
5:29 to you, Thank you. MADAM
5:30 PRESIDENT, great to see you
5:31 all. Apologize and say that
5:34 was on trial drop-off. This
5:36 morning's about to be here and
5:38 ready to Very exciting to hear
5:40 from the commission from our
5:42 chief economist about the
5:43 state generally trying to say
5:46 to brief opening comments
5:47 first really grateful to
5:49 finance team and our
5:50 departments who worked so h#
5:50 o#
5:52 this budget. I think what
5:53 you'll see here is product of
5:56 several years focused work or
5:58 2 strategies. One making sure
5:59 that we can control costs with
6:00 discipline decisions to
6:03 support a core city services
6:04 and also making sure we can
6:05 make the right strategic
6:06 investments in places that
6:08 will grow revenue so that we
6:10 are both managing the budget
6:11 that we have been preparing
6:13 for the budget that we want
6:16 future. And I think you'll see
6:17 those strategy is playing out
6:18 successfully in multiple
6:21 places, including the hopeful
6:22 signs on recovery of sales
6:24 tax. There are other places in
6:25 which we state cuts pass
6:28 setting those But we do see
6:30 that the discipline of both
6:31 disposition to control costs.
6:32 Well, really focusing on
6:33 delivering high-quality core
6:35 services and all city agencies
6:36 and make investments will
6:37 drive growth, we think are
6:39 putting us on the right path
6:40 more to do. But as we see many
6:42 cities hitting the toughest
6:43 parts of budget cycle. Now he
6:45 didn't make hard decisions.
6:47 And the previous years we
6:48 think our responsibility is
6:49 put us in a better position
6:51 where we now are ready for
6:52 with core services intact. So
6:55 conversation with you all.
6:55 really excited to have that
6:56 Thank you for all the work
6:59 you've done on naming your
6:59 priority. So steeply influence
7:00 on decisions we made and
7:01 you'll see, I think in all
7:02 these department
7:05 presentations, their direct
7:06 lemon to the prairies and
7:07 you've named so forward strong
7:08 conversation about what looks
7:10 like to deliver high quality
7:11 that I'm going over to the
7:12 team. And thank you all so
7:21 much right. Good morning,
7:24 everyone. My name is Lisa
7:24 Martinez, Templeton and
7:26 welcome to the overview of the
7:27 2027 proposed budget. The
7:32 Department of Finance. So
7:32 walking through the agenda
7:34 quickly, I will provide the
7:35 economic update followed by
7:37 Justin who will come up and
7:38 provide the revenue update in
7:40 the proposed 2027 operating
7:41 budget. Then Jackson will come
7:44 up and provide the proposed
7:45 2027 capital budget followed
7:46 by Justin again, to give some
7:48 next steps and discussion.
7:49 Script let's go ahead and get
7:53 going. Denver's economy shows
7:55 signs of stabilizing, right?
7:56 We've got lots of optimistic
7:57 signals here. Job gains have
8:00 kept pace with the workforce.
8:01 We saw a strong start or 2026.
8:05 Sales tax revenue. We've seen
8:06 robust gains in business
8:08 capital spending for equipment
8:09 and infrastructure. And then
8:11 the completion of some city
8:12 strategic investments are
8:13 starting to show measurable
8:14 benefits and by measurable
8:15 benefits. I mean, we actually
8:18 tracked that around these and
8:19 they've been demonstrating
8:19 increasing visitation as well
8:21 as consumer spending. So
8:25 first, the labor market job
8:26 gains have kept pace with the
8:27 workforce on the grass left
8:30 there. You've got Denver
8:30 County Labor Force, which is
8:33 the dark blue line on the top
8:34 and the actual number
8:35 employed, which is the orange
8:38 line on the bottom to the
8:39 right is our actual
8:41 unemployment rate for Denver,
8:43 which came in AUGUST of 4.7%
8:44 You'll see there was an uptick
8:46 in our unemployment rate as
8:47 well as a decrease in our
8:49 labor force in number of
8:51 employed this last month. I do
8:54 want to point do seem a bit
8:56 off trend when we're looking
8:56 at this data to show you are
8:57 also closely tracking the
8:59 state's data as well. And so
9:00 we look at this lots of
9:01 different ways. We look at our
9:03 labor force compared to the
9:04 states and then we also to see
9:05 if there are trends diverging
9:08 from the state. We also go
9:09 ahead, only pull Denver's got
9:10 and look at the rest of the
9:11 state to see perhaps our
9:12 daughter was sort of driving
9:15 that trend with the state. And
9:17 what we saw despite numbers
9:17 that are not being in there,
9:19 we still were trending with
9:20 the state. The reason I
9:23 mention this, this is that
9:24 they also showed a big
9:26 decrease in their labor force
9:27 for AUGUST. And at 65.0, 3%
9:30 had the lowest participation
9:30 rate on record, actually going
9:34 back to 1976. And the thing
9:37 about this particular point is
9:38 when you go in and you look at
9:41 the state level, which is as
9:41 granular as we can get for
9:44 initial unemployment claims.
9:45 There has been no
9:47 corresponding spike there
9:47 actually wish, still showing
9:51 some slight decreases. So
9:54 data reports come out.
9:54 again, these are the initial
9:55 Expectations are for when they
9:56 revise these. Both of these
9:59 numbers will improve and get
10:00 us back on track back on track
10:01 to that improving trend. We've
10:03 been seeing the prior few
10:06 months overall despite this
10:07 still showing positive
10:08 year-over-year non-farm job
10:09 growth at 0.2%, which is the
10:14 same as the state. There are
10:15 some reports that firms report
10:16 that labor availability is
10:17 actually the top limiting
10:20 factor for growth, preventing
10:21 stronger labor demand from
10:23 translating into additional
10:25 job creation. So while
10:26 shortages of skilled workers
10:28 remain particularly acute
10:30 reports of hiring difficulties
10:31 broadened across occupations
10:32 and industries with summer
10:33 firms operating below their
10:36 optimal staffing levels.
10:37 Despite persistent labor
10:38 supply constraints and limited
10:40 employment growth, contacts
10:41 actually remained optimistic
10:42 about hiring and generally
10:43 expect employment levels to
10:44 increase slightly over the
10:49 next 6 months. Our sales tax
10:50 revenue has improved. So what
10:54 you're looking at here nominal
10:55 percent change from year
10:58 numbers monthly collections.
10:59 And I want to point out here
11:01 that sales tax revenues
11:02 actually outpaced inflation
11:03 for 5 out of the last 7
11:05 months. And that means these
11:06 gains look like real spending
11:08 rather than just a pricey
11:08 effect, resulting from
11:11 inflation. Also wanted to
11:17 point out that. This does the
11:18 staple, the terminated
11:19 Stapleton tif, which was
11:21 flowing through the 1st half
11:22 of 26. This is flowing into
11:23 our general fund which made
11:25 things look a little Waukee
11:27 there. If you were to back
11:28 that it was through this, the
11:32 2nd half of 25 in the 1st 26
11:32 to know and do forecasting. We
11:34 had to do some adjustments for
11:35 that to account for it.
11:37 Showing up in one spot and not
11:40 the other and actually in 2025
11:42 our core sales tax growth
11:44 actually only totaled 1.9% If
11:45 you were to back out that 2nd,
11:45 half of the Stapleton flowing
11:47 through I do want to remind
11:50 you all that our forecast
11:51 actually did anticipate the
11:52 stronger growth through
11:53 quarter 3, knowing that we
11:53 weren't going to have
11:55 Stapleton funds in there. But
11:56 our expectations for the
11:59 remaining quarter, 4 actually
12:00 for a bit of a consumer
12:02 slowdown and fairly tepid
12:02 holiday season. So you
12:04 mentioned the so that as you
12:08 with the reports that we
12:09 slowdown in consumer spending
12:11 on that paid its accounted
12:15 for. In our forecast. Some
12:17 consumer spending has remained
12:19 resilient. What you're looking
12:21 at here, the solid lines are
12:24 the nominal monthly actuals by
12:25 industry and the associated
12:26 dotted lines are showing their
12:30 trend. No, the competition is
12:31 drives our sales tax growth
12:34 has been changing the light
12:35 blue and yellow lines that you
12:37 see there on the bottom, which
12:38 are motor vehicle and home
12:40 improvement respectively.
12:41 Actually used to be our number
12:43 2 number 3 contributors to
12:45 sales tax. However, in the
12:45 last few years, they've
12:46 dropped to number 4 and number
12:49 5, as you can see that. Food
12:50 services and drinking places,
12:51 which is that dark blue line
12:52 is still our number one
12:55 contributor. But after nearly
12:58 flat growth in 2025, is
12:58 actually shown improvement.
12:59 That's foreign to 26 and is
13:00 currently up 3% year to date
13:02 from last year. I'd like to
13:03 point out, however, the large
13:05 growth that we see in the it
13:06 professional services, which
13:09 is that orange line and that's
13:09 really capturing some business
13:11 field, capital expenditures
13:12 for infrastructure. You can
13:13 see that you're today growth
13:17 of the 11.7% and then other
13:18 retailers, which is a purple
13:22 line and majority. So if you
13:23 think like online sales that's
13:24 really the bulk of that
13:25 category. It's also shown
13:27 remarkable growth in the past
13:29 year and are contributing to
13:30 overall positive sales tax
13:32 growth. And those are really
13:33 moved I do believe it was a
13:34 even in the top 5 just a few
13:40 years ago. So also so
13:41 downtown, the recovery gains.
13:43 We've been tracking data
13:44 around the city strategic
13:45 investments. Example here is
13:48 on the 16th street. This is a
13:50 long haul process, right? This
13:50 is I was going to continue to
13:53 be tracking this for on end.
13:54 And as you can see from the
13:55 data here, we are showing
13:56 promising growth and recovery
14:00 in both sales tax collection
14:01 as well as foot traffic.
14:02 Visitations 16th Street
14:03 following the major
14:03 construction improvements that
14:09 took now the hard data for the
14:09 first 8 months of the year
14:12 show surprising resilience on
14:14 a macro Major economies have
14:14 been growing about as well as
14:16 they could. And that's despite
14:18 renewed fighting between U.S.
14:20 Iran and the prospect of a
14:21 more prolonged oil price
14:22 shock. However, you know,
14:25 economic risk do remain
14:26 consumer sentiment and