09.12.24 Agenda
M ayor
Aaron Brockett
Council M e mbe rs
Taishya Adams
Matt Benjamin
Lauren Folkerts
Tina Marquis
Ryan Schuchard
Nicole Speer
Mark Wallach
Tara Winer
Council Chambers
1777 Broadway
Boulder, CO 80302
September 12, 2024
6:00 PM
City M anage r
Nuria Rivera-Vandermyde
City Attorne y
Teresa Taylor Tate
City Cle rk
Elesha Johnson
ST UDY S E S S ION
BOULDE R CIT Y COUNCIL
2025 Recommended B udget Study Session 180 min –60
min staff
presentation /
120 min
Council
discission
3:00 hrs
City Council documents, including meeting agendas, study session agendas, meeting action
summaries and information packets can be accessed at https://bouldercolorado.gov/city-
council/council-documents. (Scroll down to the second brown box and click "I nformation Packet")
This meeting can be viewed at www.bouldercolorado.gov/city-council. Meetings are aired live on
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devices. I ndividuals with hearing or speech loss may contact us using Relay Colorado at 711 or 1-
800-659-3656.
Packet Page 1 of 45
Anyone requiring special packet preparation such as Braille, large print, or tape recorded versions
may contact the City Clerk's Office at 303-441-4222, 8 a.m. - 5 p.m. Monday through Friday. Please
request special packet preparation no later than 48 hours prior to the meeting.
I f you need Spanish interpretation or other language-related assistance for this meeting, please call
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cualquier otra ayuda con relacion al idioma para esta junta, por favor comuniquese al (303) 441-
1905 por lo menos 3 negocios dias antes de la junta.
Send electronic presentations to email address: CityClerkStaff@bouldercolorado.gov no later
than 2 p.m. the day of the meeting.
Packet Page 2 of 45
C OVE R SH E E T
ME E T I N G D AT E
September 12, 2024
ST U D Y SE SSI ON I T E M
2025 Recommended Budget Study Session
P RI MARY STAF F C ON TAC T
C harlotte Huskey, Budget Officer
AT TAC H ME N T S:
Description
2025 Recommended Budget Study Session P acket
Addendum Memo
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STUDY SESSION MEMORANDUM
TO: Mayor and Members of City Council
FROM: Nuria Rivera-Vandermyde, City Manager
Chris Meschuk, Deputy City Manager
Kara Skinner, Chief Financial Officer
Charlotte Huskey, Budget Officer
DATE: Sept. 12, 2024
SUBJECT: 2025 Recommended Budget
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
The purpose of this study session memorandum is to present to City Council and community
members the 2025 Recommended Budget, which proposes a balanced yet responsive
approach to uplifting community investments and supporting the city’s core services and
capital maintenance needs.
The total 2025 Recommended Operating Budget is $399.3 million across all funds. The total
2025 Recommended Capital Budget is $190.2 million, with $807.4 million in planned
spending across the Six-Year Capital Improvement Program. As shared during the May 9
Financial Forecast, this year’s budget represents one developed in a constrained environment
with slowing economic growth and uncertainty of the city’s major revenue sources: sales and
use tax and property tax. Sales and use taxes continue to demonstrate flattening and slower
growth, while property tax uncertainty remains with upcoming special session legislation and
2024 statewide ballot initiatives.
As we stated in the 2024 Financial Forecast, seven key budget assumptions were utilized to
inform the 2025 Recommended Budget, as listed below:
1. Slowing economic growth and known funding constraints significantly limit budget
flexibility for ongoing costs.
2. Potential legislative impacts generate uncertainty on the future of property tax
revenues and revenue growth.
3. The Capital Improvement Program will continue to focus on investing in sustainable
funding strategies for the ongoing capital maintenance of city facilities and
infrastructure.
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4.Flexibility across all funds, including dedicated funds and existing budget allocations,
will continue to be explored and emphasized to support key community investments
and needs.
5.The city will create and budget a new special revenue fund named the Arts, Culture
and Heritage Fund with a dedicated revenue source being the dedicated 0.075% sales
and use tax per the 2A ballot measure approved by voters in November 2023. The
dedication assumes inclusion of current art operating programs.
6. Recent living wage increases and potential changes to the minimum wage ordinance
impacting city employees will be a factor when considering flexibility across funds.
7. Other ongoing funding needs are significant and beyond funding availability,
requiring a long-term financial strategy across all funds and city functions.
These key budget assumptions demonstrate the limited flexibility of available ongoing,
uncommitted city funding.
Even with these constraints, the 2025 Recommended Budget contains many wins by
honoring existing commitments and advancing key community and council priorities,
particularly around equity, safety, and livability.
Some examples include:
Increased investments for housing affordability to advance the development and
rehabilitation of over 140 affordable housing units ($12.2 million)
Significant one-time investments in capital maintenance needs to help the city
maintain well its current infrastructure and service to the community ($4.3 million)
Increased one-time funding for the Equity Office to support the creation of an
Immigration Legal Defense Fund ($50,000), training and policy analysis focused on
public safety and code enforcement activities ($50,000), and diagnostic cultural
competency assessments ($50,000)
Meaningful ongoing and one-time increases to human services-related community
programs and rental assistance services ($515,000)
$121,000 in investments in Community Wildfire Resilience with a two-year fixed-
term project coordinator
Continuation of $40,000 in one-time programmatic funding and a one-year renewal
of a part-time support position for Community Connectors and inclusive engagement
Key safety investments to support disaster management planning ($80,000), civilian
police staffing advancing the Reimagine Policing efforts ($131,000), wellness
programming and workforce development for Fire-Rescue staff ($350,000), and
permanent enhancements to urban rangers staffing and the Safe & Managed Spaces
Program ($515,300)
In addition, the 2025-2030 Capital Improvement Program (CIP) includes a total of $807.4
million in planned spending across the six years, which includes significant investments to
advance capital projects, including the city’s largest affordable housing project to-date and a
municipal campus at the Alpine-Balsam site, critical water and flood management projects,
and several key Community, Culture, Resilience, and Safety (CCRS) tax projects, such as
deep energy renovations at the East Boulder Community Center, development of Primos Park
and Violet Bridge replacement project, Civic Area phase 2, Pearl Street Mall project, and
Fire Stations #2 and #4 replacements.
2025 Recommended Budget Study Session 2
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This budget also represents the final year of a three-year implementation of Budgeting for
Resilience and Equity (BRE), which shifts to a new way of budgeting for the organization
that focuses on the outcomes of our investments instead of incremental increases to the city’s
budget. This new approach of outcome-based budgeting enables the city to focus holistically
and comprehensively on the intended outcomes of program investments and perform
enhanced data-driven decision making by measuring against those outcomes developed. For
the 2025 Recommended Budget, the city is proud to have developed its first comprehensive
inventory of program outcomes and measures across the organization in alignment with
Boulder’s Sustainability, Equity and Resilience (SER) Framework. The BRE outcomes and
measures can be found on the City of Boulder’s website and within the online 2025
Recommended Budget. While this year marks the third and final year of implementation, the
city recognizes its outcomes and measures practice will mature and we will continue to
iterate, evaluate, and improve BRE each year.
Finally, the 2025 Recommended Budget builds upon community engagement efforts from the
2024 Budget by continuing to partner with the city’s Community Connectors-in-Residence
and further expanding budget engagement to boards and commissions and community
members through a citywide budget questionnaire. Most notably, Community Connectors
reiterated their support for advancements in racial equity, housing affordability, and financial
stability and economic opportunity. The citywide questionnaire input highlighted support for
initiatives aligned to safety, livability, and healthy and socially thriving goal areas within the
city’s SER Framework. Engagement efforts offered important additional perspectives on
budget priorities, which were incorporated into decision-making for the 2025 Budget.
Questions for Council
1.Does council recommend any substantive changes in advance of its first reading
consideration of the 2025 Budget?
BACKGROUND
Each year, City Council considers a recommended budget for the upcoming fiscal year that is
put forward by the city manager after an extensive internal budget development process to
reflect community goals and council priorities. After the recommended budget release,
council then has an opportunity through a Council Study Session to review the City
Manager’s Recommended Budget, ask questions, and suggest any changes in advance of the
public hearings at the first and second reading of the budget. Budget adoption, including the
approval of the appropriation ordinance, or authorization for spending, and special district
budget resolutions, must be completed by late November each year as required by Charter
Section 95. The typical city budget cycle plans for budget adoption by the end of each
October and for the 2025 Budget, first reading will take place at the Oct. 3 council meeting
and second reading will follow on Oct. 17.
Financial Conditions and Major Revenue Projections
Sales & Use Taxes
The city’s largest single revenue source is sales and use tax. Since 2020, the city has
partnered with the University of Colorado Business Research Division to forecast sales and
use taxes, utilizing Moody’s Analytics U.S. Macroeconomic Outlook forecasts for model
2025 Recommended Budget Study Session 3
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inputs. In 2022, the city adjusted its former baseline forecast to take a less conservative
approach to modeling sales and use taxes. Staff performed this adjustment to a less
conservative modeling approach after evaluating the city’s post-pandemic risk posture as
well as evaluating actual revenues against prior budget projections, which demonstrated
stronger performance than budgeted levels.
With 2023 year-end revenues, the city began to see evidence of an economic slowdown. In
particular, the December year-over-year decline in local retail sales suggested cause for
concern and particularly close monitoring. In the current forecast, CU continues to project
slowing economic growth through 2024. Slow growth patterns are primarily attributed to
local retail activity slowing, statewide population growth slowing, growth of aging
population, remote work practices, high commercial vacancy rates, and high housing costs.
The forecast points to slightly stronger growth of sales and use tax in 2025 and outyears.
In the 2025 Budget, the city’s current sales tax rate of 3.86% generates 37% of total city
revenues supporting several functions, services, and programs, such as public safety, human
services, behavioral health, open space, transportation, parks, communication and
engagement, and arts, culture, and heritage. As demonstrated in the below chart, staff
currently forecast an anticipated 2-2.5% annual growth in total sales and use tax revenues
between 2024-2030. By comparison, the city saw an average of 9.2% increase in revenues
between 2020-2023. As mentioned in the Financial Forecast, the flattening of sales and use
taxes – the city’s largest single source of ongoing revenues – represents a limitation for
increases in ongoing investments for new initiatives and programs.
Figure 1. Total Sales & Use Taxes Revenues and Projections 2016-2030
Renewed General Fund Sales & Use Tax and Dedication of Tax
In November 2023, voters approved the extension of an existing 0.15% sales and use tax
from Jan. 1, 2025 through December 2044, though at the same time changed the purpose of
its previous use. As included within the ballot language, voters supported dedicating 50% of
what was an existing General Fund tax to arts, culture, and heritage purposes and extending
the other 50% of the tax for general fund purposes, such as public safety services, fire and
emergency response services, human services, and homelessness solutions and services. In
$134 $131
$144 $142 $135
$152
$169 $176 $176 $180 $184 $188 $193 $197 $202
$75
$95
$115
$135
$155
$175
$195
$215
2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025 2026 2027 2028 2029 2030MILLIONSTotal Sales & Use Taxes -Actuals and Projections
Actuals Projected
2025 Recommended Budget Study Session 4
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2025, projections for the total 0.15% tax are approximately $7 million, with each portion of
the tax generating an estimated $3.5-$3.9 million in revenues annually through 2030.
As covered extensively during the 2024 and 2025 budget development processes, the
dedication of 50% of the 0.15% tax will be accounted for in a newly established Arts,
Culture, and Heritage Fund beginning in 2025. For 2025, existing, ongoing administration,
grants, and art initiatives are included in and funded by the dedicated portion of the tax in the
new special revenue fund. The undedicated portion of the tax supports public safety, human
services, and other general fund purposes, as stated in the ballot language.
During the 2024 budget process, staff shared the criticality of General Fund needs and the
importance of the 0.15% tax extension to support General Fund programs and services. The
dedication of previously undedicated general fund revenues limits the flexibility of funding
for ongoing services and new initiatives. As shared in further detail below, the city’s
unfunded and/or unfunded needs are great, and without a new revenue source(s) or service
reductions, funding to support community demand for current service levels, let alone
increases in service levels, is severely limited. Identified as a city council top priority at the
2024 Council Retreat, the city’s development of the Long-Term Financial Strategy will point
to future funding opportunities, including the exploration of alternative funding mechanisms
and ballot strategies, to support necessary core city services and community goals.
Property Tax
Property taxes represent the third largest source of city revenues, comprising 12.1% of total
revenues in the 2025 Budget. Property taxes support core functions and services such as
public safety, human services, parks and housing, among other general fund purposes. As
shown in the chart below, for every $1 property owners in the city of Boulder pay for
property tax in 2025, about 13 cents goes to the City of Boulder, while the remainder is
remitted to other taxing entities, including Boulder Valley School District, Boulder County,
and the Boulder Public Library District.
Property values are reassessed by
the county assessor’s office
every two years, on every odd-
numbered year. For the 2025
revenue year (which is the 2024
property tax year), property taxes
are based on the 2023
reassessment, and are based upon
home sales from July 1, 2020, to
June 30, 2022, with sales during
that period age-adjusted to the
June 30, 2022 appraisal date. The
next reassessment will be in 2025
for 2025 property taxes payable
in 2026.
Last year, for the 2024 revenue year (2023 property tax year), during a November 2023
Special Session the State Legislature enacted SB23B-004, which reduced residential and
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commercial property assessment rates from 6.765% to 6.5% and 27.9% to 25%, respectively,
and increased partial property value subtractions within both property tax categories.
During the 2024 Regular Legislative Session, the State Legislature passed SB24-233, which
carries over temporary property assessment rates and actual value subtractions from the 2023
property tax year applied within SB23B-004. Staff is currently monitoring the 2024 Special
Legislative Session, which began on Monday, Aug. 26. This session specifically aims to
address property tax initiatives on the November 2024 statewide ballot.
Two initiatives, Initiative #50 and Initiative #108, are currently on the statewide ballot
implicating property taxes or property tax revenue statewide and at the local level. Initiative
#50 would change the Colorado Constitution to require a taxing jurisdiction that is projected
to receive more than 4% of property tax revenues, to place a question on the ballot asking for
voter approval to retain the revenue above 4%. Initiative #108 would reduce the assessment
rate to 24% for all real property except residential, producing mines, and lands or leaseholds
producing oil or gas, and set the residential assessment rate at 5.7% beginning in 2025. Staff
modeled these three property tax scenarios, including existing legislation SB24-233 (2025
Budget), and Initiatives #50 and #108, as shown in Figure 2 below. It is important to note that
in Initiative #108, the State of Colorado would be required to fully reimburse local
governments other than school districts for lost revenue; Initiative #108 shown in this graph
is what the modeling shows to be collected locally and the difference between that light-blue
line and the red line (SB24-233) is the amount of lost revenue that the State would need to
reimburse the city.
Figure 2. Citywide Property Tax Projection Scenarios: SB24-233, Initiative 50, and Initiative 108
As of Monday, Aug. 26, 13 bills had been introduced during Special Session to address
property tax measures. The primary bill that city staff is monitoring is HB24B-1001. While
this bill does not impact the 2025 Budget (2024 taxes payable in 2025), it further reduces
property tax assessment rates for the 2025 property tax year (2026 revenue year) for
residential property from 6.4% to 6.25%, unless statewide actual value growth exceeds 5%
$47 $48
$51 $49
$60
$57
$63
$61
$67 $66
$73
$63 $63 $66 $66
$68
$56 $56
$61 $61
$66
$40
$45
$50
$55
$60
$65
$70
$75
2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025 2026 2027 2028 2029 2030MILLIONSCitywide Property Tax Projections
Actuals SB24-233 Initiative 50 Intitiative 108
2025 Recommended Budget Study Session 6
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from 2024 to 2025, in which case the rate will decrease to 6.15%. For nonresidential
assessment rates, HB24B-1001 reduces the rate from 29% to 27.5% for vacant property and
from 29% to 27% for all other nonresidential classes.
The bill continues to lower assessment rates for residential and nonresidential properties in
property tax year 2026 and after. Figure 3 below shows three scenarios: SB24-233 existing
legislation (2025 Budget), HBS4B-1001 if statewide actual value growth is less than or
equals 5%, and HB24B-1001 if statewide actual value growth exceeds 5%. As shown in the
graph below, if passed, staff project an estimated $1-$2 million impact from HB24B-1001,
beginning in the 2026 fiscal year.
Figure 3. Citywide Property Tax Projections Special Legislative Session Scenarios
Budgeting for Resilience & Equity – Three-Year Implementation
The 2025 Recommended Budget represents the third and final year of an organization-wide
implementation effort supporting a shift in the city’s budgeting approach from traditional
increment-based budgeting to outcome-based budgeting. This shift focuses on enhanced
strategic and data-driven decision-making by understanding the outcomes of our investments
as aligned to the greater SER Framework.
In 2022, year 1 of this effort, staff implemented a new budgeting software and transparency
tool, OpenGov; identified program areas within each department and cross-departmentally
across the organization; and aligned the newly identified city programs and budgets to the
city’s SER Framework. As a result, each program area aligns to one SER Framework goal
area. This effort supported heightened transparency of the city’s budget by further
57
63
61
67 66
73
62
60
65 65
71
61
59
64 64
70
55
57
59
61
63
65
67
69
71
73
75
2025 2026 2027 2028 2029 2030MillionsCitywide Property Tax Projections
Special Legislative Session
SB24-233 (2025 Budget)
HB24B-1001 Less than or equal to 5% Statewide Growth
HB24B-1001 Greater than 5% Statewide Growth
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understanding the allocation of resources and demonstrating how our investments aligned to
the seven community goal areas within the framework.
In 2023, the city added further specificity by developing intended outcomes for each program
area in the city and added performance measures or a plan to develop performance measures
to be able to assess the future impact of our investments. Prior to 2023, some departments
had already established outcomes and were tracking performance measure data for specific
program goals; however, other departments were just beginning to identify outcomes as
aligned to their newly developed program areas and further identifying potential performance
measures. For those programs that had yet to develop performance measures, the Budget
Office and IT Enterprise Data Team partnered to provide training and support to identify and
establish measures or develop a plan to create measures and track and report. Year 2 also
marked the first year the city worked directly with Community Connectors-in-Residence
(CC-in-Rs) and their communities to incorporate their input and priorities into the 2024
budget development process. Specifically, CC-in-R identified and prioritized ten objectives
within the SER Framework, with housing affordability, racial equity, and financial security
and economic opportunity rising to the top of their priorities. This engagement generated
significant input that was then used during key decision-making of the 2024 budget.
Year 3, the final year of implementation,
focused on refinement of identified
outcomes and the further development of
program measures for 2025 budget. With
this year’s budget direction and
constrained environment, understanding
the outcomes of our investments became
that much more salient. Recognizing that
departments were along different paths of
outcomes development, the Budget Office
and IT Enterprise Data Team partnered to
provide 18 individual workshops tailored
to each department across the
organization. These workshops focused on
outcome refinement and identification of program measures and targets, or benchmarks,
associated with program measures.
In addition to this refinement, the city unveiled a new Citywide Strategic Plan that presents a
three-year plan with 15 strategies, each with priority action steps, aligned to the SER
Framework. In the 2025 budget development process, budget priorities and requests were
aligned to the Citywide Strategic Plan strategies and priority action steps, where applicable,
and considered during budget decision-making. The Citywide Strategic Plan serves to bridge
the gap between long-term plans, such as the SER Framework and Boulder Valley
Comprehensive Plan, and annual department plans. Department programs, and associated
outcomes and measures, align to the Citywide Strategic Plan, and those strategies further
align and support the greater citywide framework.
As a result of staff efforts in this final year of implementation of Budgeting for Resilience &
Equity, the city has established its first comprehensive citywide inventory of outcomes,
measures and targets through a Budgeting for Resilience & Equity Dashboard aligned to
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program areas and the SER Framework. These outcomes and measures were utilized during
2025 budget decision-making to prioritize program areas for realignments of existing dollars
toward areas in the greatest demand or need. The outcomes also enabled staff to understand
efficiencies and commonalities between budget priorities and requests and enhanced
decision-making. This three-year implementation effort has enabled the city to heighten
transparency of the allocation of its resources, begin the journey to enhanced data-driven
decision-making, and have greater and shared alignment to community and citywide goals.
Particularly relevant in constrained times, this initiative and annual practice will support the
city in prioritizing community and organizational needs, considering trade-offs, and further
understanding the impact of our budget allocations into the future. While this year marks the
third and final year of implementation, the city will continue to build its practice, iterate,
evaluate, and improve Budgeting for Resilience & Equity each year.
ANALYSIS
2025 Recommended Budget Overview
The total 2025 Recommended Operating Budget is $399.3 million across all funds. The total
2025 Recommended Capital Budget is $190.2 million, with $807.4 million in planned
spending across the Six-Year Capital Improvement Program. The 2025 Recommended
Budget proposes investments that support core city services, continue existing commitments,
and advance key community priorities, with particular focus on equity, safety, and livability –
which rose to the top through community engagement efforts.
The 2025 budget development process emphasized realignments of existing dollars across
program areas to support prioritized program outcomes as aligned to the SER Framework and
as established in Budgeting for Resilience & Equity efforts. The expectation around budget
realignments was particularly important given our current budgeting environment and limited
availability of ongoing dollars.
Within the 2025 Recommended Budget, approximately $3 million previously budgeted was
realigned or reallocated to different programs area to best support prioritized programmatic
and service needs.
A few examples are listed below:
1.Family Services Program (Healthy & Socially Thriving)
Realignment of $26,500 from Housing & Human Services operations to personnel to
increase an existing Bilingual Family Resource Schools Program Manager to full-
time (from ¾ time). This realignment will enable the Family Services Program to
focus on enhanced levels of afterschool programming at Crestview Elementary, the
fourth highest-need school within Boulder Valley School District. Crestview
Elementary has not had a full afterschool program since 2016. This realignment will
fulfill an ongoing commitment to the program and support increased demand for
family case management and family support services at this school.
2.Urban Rangers Program (Safe)
Realignment of $91,000 from Parks Operations and Parks Administration Programs
to support necessary equipment, training, and uniforms for the continued build-out of
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the Urban Rangers Program. This realignment will allow the department to move
non-standard staffing to park areas where they will have the greatest impact,
prioritizing the Central Zone, which covers the Pearl Street Mall and Civic Area, and
increasing support to the Safe and Managed Spaces (SAMPS) team’s work.
3.Transportation Streetlight Maintenance (Accessible & Connected)
Realignment of $755,400 from Transportation’s Operations Program gas and
electricity budget to fund the city’s acquisition and management of 4,500 city
streetlights, including a new Streetlight Maintenance Capital Maintenance Program in
the CIP ($300,000), funding for ongoing repairs and maintenance ($225,000), and
2new FTEs for Streetlight Maintenance Technicians ($230,400).
Excluding debt service and internal service charges, the 2025 Recommended Operating
Budget represents a modest increase of 1.3% over the 2024 Approved Operating Budget. The
primary drivers for the overall increase, as shown in the table below, stem from planned debt
service for the South Boulder Creek Utilities Flood Mitigation Project and the Alpine-Balsam
Western City Campus development, as well as base cost increases to internal service charges
such as fleet and equipment replacements, technology services and systems, and facilities
maintenance.
Expense Category Amount Change Percent Change
Operating $4,052,910 1.3%
Debt Service 10,154,584 39.0%
Internal Services 10,930,985 36.8%
Total Operating Budget $25,138,479 6.7%
The 2025 Recommended Budget also includes significant one-time investments, totaling
$26.7 million supporting key community priorities as well as underfunded core service areas.
2025 Budget Community Engagement
The 2025 budget development process expanded upon prior year community engagement
efforts. Building upon last year’s engagement, city staff partnered again with Community
Connectors-in-Residence (CC-in-R) to receive valuable input on top
priorities as aligned to the SER Framework, in addition to
understanding funding priorities from CC-in-R for new
City of Boulder programs, including arts & culture and
wildfire resilience programming. Budget staff also
engaged city boards and commissions to enhance
awareness and alignment with the annual budget cycle.
Finally, the city developed and released a 2025 budget
questionnaire to invite Boulder community members
to provide input on budget priorities as aligned to the
seven SER Framework Goal Areas.
Budget staff performed all engagement efforts between
March and June 2024 and shared the 2025 budget
questionnaire through in-person and virtual engagement
sessions, press release, social media, NextDoor, Inside Boulder
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News, and to all boards and commission members, economic vitality partners including the
Latino Chamber, Small Business Development Center, Boulder Chamber, and Downtown
Boulder Partnership, and approximately 7,650 local licensed businesses. The 2025 budget
questionnaire received over 1,000 responses from community members. Out of the seven
SER Framework goal areas, results of the 2025 budget questionnaire most aligned to the goal
areas of Safe, Healthy & Socially Thriving, and Livable. A summary of the 2025 budget
questionnaire results is included in Attachment B and below is a summary of primary
qualitative feedback themes for the top three priority goal areas.
Safe: Crime reduction, transportation maintenance and safety, downtown vitality,
public space safety, unhoused populations and encampments, substance use,
accessibility and affordability for elderly populations, affordability, small business
support
Healthy & Socially Thriving: Unhoused populations and encampments, arts
funding, downtown vitality, public transportation, affordability
Livable: Housing, unhoused populations and encampments, affordability, affordable
housing
Partnering with CC-in-R for input on the annual budget development has provided valuable
feedback to help the city to further understand priorities from historically marginalized
communities. This engagement has informed budget decision-making, particularly when
considering trade-off decisions and limited available ongoing funding. During 2024 budget
engagement, CC-in-R provided feedback on prioritization of 10 of the 30 objectives within
the SER Framework. During 2025 engagement, CC-in-R reprioritized these objectives to
reconsider and/or reaffirm their top priorities. The top ten SER Framework objectives
identified for the 2025 budget by CC-in-R are listed below, with the primary change of racial
equity rising to the top priority of CC-in-R up from the third priority. This change reflects a
shared acknowledgement among CC-in-R that equity is a root cause and helps to move other
objectives forward. All other priorities remained the same when compared to the 2024
budget, signifying the importance of these top objectives of CC-in-R.
1. Support the City of Boulder advancing racial equity and implementing equity
strategies and tools (Responsibly Governed).
2. Provide a variety of housing types with a full range of affordability (Livable).
3. Support financial security and economic opportunity regardless of race, gender,
ability, or socioeconomic status (Economically Vital).
4. Support community members who are unhoused or underhoused to navigate services
to achieve housing security (Livable).
5. Support the natural environment and its ecosystems so they can resist damage and
recover quickly (Environmentally Sustainable).
6. Seek to enhance the affordability of goods, services, and real estate that support the
needs of all community members (Economically Vital).
7. Support the physical and mental well-being of its community members by providing
public gathering places (Healthy & Socially Thriving).
8. Cultivate a wide range of recreational, cultural, educational, civic, and social
opportunities (Healthy & Socially Thriving).
9. Ensure City of Boulder programs and decisions do not have a disparate impact on
historically excluded community members (Responsibly Governed).
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10. Enhance transparency, accuracy, and efficiency of customer service for City of
Boulder services (Responsibly Governed).
In addition to the above budget engagement efforts, the city’s annual budget is also informed
by additional engagement during departmental programmatic and capital project
developments, such as engagement that informed the newly renamed Primos Park (formerly
Violet Park), included in the 2025-30 Capital Improvement Program. Engagement continues
to be an integral part of the annual budget, and staff looks to continue to build upon this on a
yearly basis during the annual budget process.
2025 Recommended Budget Highlights by SER Framework Goal Area
The 2025 Recommended Operating Budget totals $399.3 million and supports all seven goal
areas within the city’s SER Framework. The majority of the 2025 budget investments, as
demonstrated in the chart below, align to the goal areas of Responsibly Governed (27%) and
Safe (22%), followed by Livable, Healthy & Socially Thriving, and Environmentally
Sustainable (13% each). The 2025 Budget represents a shift from the 2023 and 2024
Approved Budgets by increasing the
percentage of total investments
within the city’s budget to the
Livable SER Framework goal area
by $10.5 million. This increase is
primarily driven by additional
investments in housing affordability
and rental assistance. Below is a
summary of budget highlights and
key investments included in the 2025
Budget outlined by goal area.
Responsibly Governed
Continued Investments in City Staff – $4.1 million
City employees are an invaluable asset to the organization and are essential to providing core
operational services and key community programs. Therefore, it is imperative that we
continue to invest in our city staff to ensure continuous and enhanced delivery of community
programs and services. The 2025 Recommended Budget demonstrates this commitment
through continued investments in employee wages and benefits, and training and
development across the workforce. Investments include:
Updated BMEA Collective Bargaining Agreement Merit Increases: The City of
Boulder has reached tentative agreement on a successor collective bargaining
agreement with the Boulder Municipal Employees Association (BMEA) union mid-
year in 2024. Pending full agreement ratification by the BMEA and approval by the
Responsibly
Governed
27%
Safe
22%Livable
13%
Environmentally
Sustainable
13%
Healthy &
Socially Thriving
13%
Accessible
&
Connected
9%
Economically
Vital
3%
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city manager, increases included in the 2025 Recommended Budget total $925,000
supporting an increased merit matrix, with an average of 3.5% merit across BMEA
employees.
Non-Union/Management Annual Budgeted Merit Increases: The 2025 Recommended
Budget includes a budgeted annual merit increase for non-union staff in the
organization. This budgeted increase represents a yearly base cost driver included in
the annual budget, and in 2025 this annual increase is 3.5%, or $2.9 million across all
funds. The 3.5% is used for budgeting purposes; each individual employee’s merit
increase is dependent upon performance.
Police and Fire Union Employee Increases per 2024-2025 Contracts: The 2025
Recommended Budget includes $938,000 in funding for the 3% GSI increases within
the BPOA and IAFF collective bargaining agreements for 2025.
Minimum Wage Increases: The 2025 Recommended Budget includes $242,000 to
support a potential increase of the minimum wage rate from $14.42 to $16.57,
dependent on the final decision on the minimum wage ordinance this fall.
Significant One-time Investments Supporting Capital Maintenance Backlog – $4.3 million
As shared in the May Financial Forecast, a major 2025 budget assumption included a focus
on sustainable capital maintenance funding. The 2025 Recommended Budget proposes $4.3
million in one-time investments toward an underfunded capital maintenance backlog of fleet
and equipment needs, and facilities maintenance to support the city’s building portfolio.
The below list represents key items supported with this one-time funding:
Fire-Rescue Apparatus Replacements ($3.3 million): Included in the 2025
Recommended Budget is $3.3 million to support fire apparatus replacement for the
Fire-Rescue Department. Fire apparatus costs have almost tripled in the past seven
years; a ladder truck that previously cost approximately $850,000 has now escalated
to $2.4 million. In addition to significant cost increases, the Facilities & Fleet and
Fire-Rescue departments have experienced significant post-pandemic apparatus
acquisition delays, such that acquisition now takes two-to-three years from purchase
date instead of six-months to a year. The Facilities & Fleet and Fire-Rescue
departments have identified approximately $15.5 million needed for fire apparatus
replacements of the existing fleet between 2025-2030, or approximately $2.5 million
a year. This proposed 2025 one-time funding of $3.3 million represents a meaningful
investment toward this underfunded need, and a front-loaded budgeting approach to
enable the Fire-Rescue department to pre-order apparatuses, which reduces overall
purchase cost and enables a faster window for obtaining the fleet replacements.
Facilities Capital Maintenance Support ($1 million): The 2025 Recommended Budget
includes $1 million in funding to address multiple needs, including parking lot
maintenance at the public safety building and fire station lots, adaptations at various
fire stations such as kitchen and living quarter improvements, public safety building
ventilation system renovations, installation of automated building controls at city
facilities for comprehensive control over building functions, and facility capital
maintenance funding in response to maintenance needs at the Scott Carpenter Pool.
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Cybersecurity & Disaster Management Planning - $105,000
Included in the 2025 Recommended Budget is $80,000 in one-time funding from the newly
expanded Enterprise Technology Fund (formerly Computer Replacement Fund) to support a
Disaster Management Plan in the Innovation & Technology Department’s Cybersecurity and
Privacy Program. In addition, $25,000 in one-time funding will support Office of Disaster
Management training within the City Manager’s Office Administration & Operations
Program. This budget priority directly aligns and supports Strategy 2, Priority Action B,
within the Citywide Strategic Plan to advance efforts to enhance regional disaster prevention,
preparedness, and response by updating the city’s disaster recovery plan with learnings from
recent disasters. Learning from recent events, this funding support is imperative to shield the
city against future disruptions that could severely impact critical operations and compromise
data integrity.
Livable
Housing Affordability Investments – $31.2 million
In recent years, the city has made significant investments in new initiatives
supporting housing affordability. In January 2022, City Council established the two-year
priority of providing space for day services for individuals experiencing homelessness. In the
2023 Budget, City Council approved $750,000 in one-time funding to support the
development of a Homeless Day Services Center. In the 2024 Budget, City Council approved
an additional $1.6 million in ongoing funding to support the operations and establishment of
a Day Services Center, supporting the outcomes of reduced returns to homelessness and
increased transition to permanent housing. The Day Services Center, managed by All Roads,
supports wrap-around case management, retention, peer support and outreach services in
addition to daytime sheltering for unhoused individuals.
In addition to the Day Services Center, the 2024 Budget appropriated over $13.4 million to
support housing affordability and housing stability through projects and programs such as the
Emergency Family Assistance Association’s (EFAA) Keep Families Housed Program to
support low-income families from entering into homelessness, permanently supportive
housing vouchers for monthly rental assistance for those in need, and the affordable housing
construction for the Ponderosa Stabilization Project, which supports the development of long-
term affordability in the Ponderosa neighborhood in North Boulder, and the Hilltop Senior
Living Center Project, which supports the addition of 60 permanently affordable apartment
homes in South Boulder.
In the 2025 Recommended Budget, a total of $27.7 million will support additional housing
affordability investments, supporting the advancement of Strategy 5, Priority Actions A and
C, within the Citywide Strategic Plan to broaden supportive housing opportunities and
increase affordable housing stock. In 2025, $12.2 million will support the construction and
maintenance of 144 affordable housing units at the Thistle, Rally Flats, and Ponderosa
projects. Specifically, Priority Action C outlines the importance of collaborative regional
strategies to increase affordable housing stock and options for the community. Key to this
success will be Boulder County’s recently voter-approved 1B funding that supports
affordable housing. Within the city’s Affordable Housing Fund, the city has included $3.5
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million in annual revenues between 2025-2030 anticipated from 1B funding to support the
important advancement of housing affordability within Boulder. Staff has worked closely
with regional municipalities, housing authorities, and the county to work towards an
appropriate distribution of funding over the past year. It is important to note that the
distribution timing, methodology, or amount has yet to be established by Boulder County.
For budgeting purposes, the city is utilizing $3.5 million; however, the most recent proposal-
put forward by the city and some of its regional partners for consideration estimate the
potential City of Boulder distribution to be a range from $4.7 to $5.5 million. These numbers
will be adjusted as county decisions are finalized.
Increased Funding for Human Services and Basic Needs – $200,000
The 2025 Recommended Budget includes a total of $200,000 in General Fund support for
increased investments in human services, specifically supporting the outcomes to reduce
poverty, increase well-being and reduce barriers to help meet basic needs. Recognizing the
constraints and limited availability of ongoing dollars within the General Fund, this budget
proposes $100,000 in increased ongoing funding and $100,000 in one-time funds for
additional human services programming and grants provided to non-profit organizations
through the Human Services Fund managed by the Housing & Human Services Department.
Some of the specific objectives and intended outcomes of this increased funding include:
Increased economic stability, mobility and resilience
Increase positive physical, mental, or behavioral health and well-being
Advance personal growth, development and leadership potential, childhood
development, and academic achievement
This increased funding will enable the program to further stabilize human services and basic
needs investments to support these outcomes.
Eviction Prevention & Rental Assistance Services Funding – $315,000
In November 2020, Boulder's voters approved a $75 long-term rental license excise tax to
support eviction prevention services for city of Boulder tenants. The tax generates roughly
$1.4 million annually, funding the Eviction Prevention and Rental Assistance Services
(EPRAS) program. EPRAS provides legal aid, rental assistance, and mediation services to
help tenants facing eviction. The program prevents evictions for 96% of tenants actively
engaging with EPRAS services, benefitting both tenants and landlords.
Despite EPRAS' success, the need for these services remains high. Eviction filings are
increasing across Boulder County and rising housing costs contribute to housing insecurity.
In past years, EPRAS has depleted the rental assistance funds available and has relied on
supplemental funds from American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) to meet the demand for rental
assistance.
The current ordinance allows council to approve annual adjustments based on the Consumer
Price Index (CPI). Because the program was new and staff was still assessing needs, the tax
was not increased in prior years. Due to the demands discussed above, staff is recommending
an increase of 5.2%, in line with the 2023 Consumer Price Index for the Denver-Aurora-
Lakewood metropolitan area. This translates to a $3.90 increase per long-term rental license,
generating approximately $62,000 in additional revenue. In addition, 2024 marks the last
year of a three-year General Fund repayment that advanced earlier EPRAS efforts prior to
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receiving EPRAS tax revenues. This funding of $253,000 will be realigned and included in
the 2025 Budget as additional rental assistance services support. This increase will be
included in the annual tax and fee ordinance that is presented with the annual budget.
Safe
In recent years, the city has invested in new initiatives and expanded
existing programs supporting safety, resilience, and preparedness efforts.
Examples of recent investments include the establishment of the Safe &
Managed Spaces pilot program, ongoing and one-time investments in Fire-
Rescue emergency operations supporting Advanced Life Support implementation efforts, and
public safety workforce development, wellness, and recruiting initiatives.
The 2025 Recommended Budget makes both permanent investments and identifies key one-
time dollars to support the advancement of community safety efforts. Specifically, key
investments in the 2025 Budget aim to advance programmatic outcomes of increased
transparency and accountability of police misconduct investigations, improved perception of
safety in public spaces, improved connection to alternative, non-policing, teams, and reduced
risk of wildfire to vulnerable homes. These intended outcomes are supported by enhanced
funding for the Office of the Independent Police Monitor, civilian staffing within the Police
Department, continued wellness and workforce development funding for Fire-Rescue, and
permanent investments in the Urban Rangers program.
Office of Independent Police Monitor Enhancements – $63,400
The Office of the Independent Police Monitor classifies all community complaints against
Boulder Police Department employees, reviews internal affairs investigations in real time,
provides disposition and disciplinary recommendations and supports the Police Oversight
Panel.
The 2025 Recommended Budget includes $63,400 in increased funding to support the
following:
Strengthening civilian review of law enforcement and learning from best practices to
promote accountability through annual attendance at the National Association of
Civilian Oversight of Law Enforcement (NACOLE).
Establishing a budget of $52,000 for a monthly stipend of $200-$250 for the 11-
member Police Oversight Panel, AXON body camera access licenses for the Panel,
and funding for interpretation, community events, and printed materials and supplies.
The monthly stipend budget will continue to allow for participation of community
members from historically underrepresented groups.
Advancement of Reimagine Policing and Civilian Positions – $239,500
In 2023, City Council approved the Reimagine Policing Plan, which aims to move from a
traditional model of policing to a new approach that centers holistic problem-solving and
crime prevention. The 2025 Recommended Budget includes several investments supporting
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this effort and strategies within the Citywide Strategic Plan that focus on the civilianizing of
positions and alternative response programming.
Specific investments are highlighted in more detail below:
A new civilian Property and Evidence coordinator position ($131,000) will allow for
the realignment of a Downtown Pearl Street Mall Police Sergeant who was
previously performing this coordinator work. This will enable a refocus of safety
efforts in the Downtown Mall area and additional support for the Homeless Outreach
Team and Homeless Response Team. Specifically, this investment advances Strategy
1 within the Citywide Strategic Plan to focus on community safety efforts by
reducing community harm at critical locations known for high incident rates or
significant vulnerabilities. This also supports the Enhanced Engagement and
Department/Officer Readiness of the Reimagine Policing Plan Focus Areas by
addressing staffing needs in accordance with the Rule of 60 and focusing on building
trusted relationships with communities that have been impacted negatively by
policing.
A total of $118,800 will be repurposed from the police personnel budget to support a
civilian armorer position in the Police Departmental Support Services Program,
which will allow the department to realign the work of existing sworn positions to
focus on responding to incidents and service demands. This reallocation represents a
budget neutral impact.
A one-year extension of an existing Victim Services Specialist position ($89,200)
will continue support for holistic governance in the department, shifting the
ownership of problem-solving from police to specialized civilian positions with
expertise in supporting victims of crime and critical incidents.
An addition of three new e-bikes ($18,700) will support the Alternative Response
Program with furthering department and officer readiness by enabling officers to
utilize bicycles to patrol areas and respond to calls for service in a quicker manner
than on foot.
Safe & Managed Spaces – $3.7 million
In April 2021, City Council approved an 18-month pilot program, Safe and Managed Public
Spaces (SAMPS), to address camping and unsafe behavior in the city’s public spaces using a
coordinated and cross-departmental approach. The 2022-2024 budgets furthered investments
in this program with ongoing support for an additional engagement management team and
one-time funding to expand the Parks & Recreation Department Urban Rangers Program and
an Ambassador Program through the Community Vitality Department. Specifically, the 2024
Budget allocated $3 million to support SAMPS: $2.2 million in ongoing and $820,400 in
one-time funding.
The 2025 Recommended Budget further commits to this effort by permanently investing in
the Urban Rangers Program with the conversion of three fixed-term positions to permanent
staffing and providing equipment and supplies for the program ($515,300), by realigning
existing dollars and providing one-time funding for the Ambassador Program ($500,000) and
nonstandard temporary Urban Rangers staffing ($170,800). Urban rangers support the
SAMPS program as well as additional urban parks programming by fostering a climate of
safety and security in public spaces. It is a companion to the Ambassador Program, managed
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by the Community Vitality Department, which supports improved customer and business
experience in the downtown and University Hill areas, making areas cleaner, more attractive,
and enhancing district vitality within these areas. These investments in the 2025 Budget will
support the outcomes of ensuring public spaces are safe and accessible to all and successful
activation of park and public spaces through special events with ongoing monitoring and
enforcement.
Healthy & Socially Thriving
The Healthy & Socially Thriving SER Framework goal area focuses on
supporting residents to meet critical needs, enjoy high levels of social,
physical, and mental well-being, and have access to abundant recreational, cultural, and
educational opportunities. In the 2025 Recommended Budget, investments supporting these
outcomes include additional one-time and ongoing funding for the Office of Equity and
Belonging, programming that supports people living with disabilities, and funding supporting
arts, culture, and heritage programming.
Additional Funding for Equity, Access and Community Building Initiatives – $252,400
The 2025 Budget includes $150,000 in one-time funding for the Office of Equity and
Belonging to support the creation of an Immigration Legal Defense Fund ($50,000); training
and policy analysis focused on public safety and other public-facing code enforcement
activities ($50,000); and diagnostic cultural competency assessments ($50,000). The Housing
& Human Services Department realigned $26,500 of existing dollars to support a full-time
Bilingual Resource School Program Manager position, helping to meet the need of a full
afterschool program for Crestview Elementary, which has not had a full program since 2016.
These investments aim to advance the outcomes of ensuring all our community members
have access to accurate information regarding immigration law and increasing average self-
sufficiency for families receiving case management support in the Family Resource Schools
program.
In addition, ongoing funding of $9,800 for the Parks & Recreation EXPAND internship
program will further support for people living with disabilities, and newly awarded grant
funding from Colorado Parks and Wildlife ($216,000) to the Open Space & Mountain Parks
Department will support two three-year fixed term positions focused on trail repairs on
Mount Sanitas as well as visitor experience and infrastructure programming. These efforts
support providing equitable access to all recreation facilities, services, and community
benefit programs.
Arts, Culture, and Heritage Investments – Over $3.0 million
The 2025 Recommended Budget includes over $3.0 funding for arts and cultural
programming across the organization.
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In November 2023, voters approved the 20-year extension of an expiring 0.15% sales and use
tax. Importantly, with the extension, funding to the General Fund was reduced, as only 50%
remained undedicated and for general purposes, and 50% shifted from undedicated to
dedicated arts, culture and heritage funding. Anticipating this dedication and increase of
funding for arts and culture, the city’s Arts & Culture Office conducted an assessment to
understand and develop a funding strategy for 2025. This assessment, shared with the Arts
Commission on August 28th, included significant participation and input from community
members, with specific focus on existing arts operating grantees, Arts Commissioners, arts
organizations, and Community Connectors-in-Residence, to understand the more immediate
needs of arts, culture, and heritage funding and lay the groundwork for identifying long-term
priorities.
In the 2025 Recommended Budget, a new special revenue fund, the Arts, Culture, and
Heritage Fund is created with the dedicated 0.075% portion of the sales and use tax as the
revenue source. All arts and culture programs, grants and administration, including current
ongoing programs, are included in this fund. Consolidating activities into this newly created
special revenue fund is the standard financial practice when funding becomes dedicated for a
specific purpose.
As discussed during the 2024 budget process and as stated in 2025 budget assumptions,
funding for the city’s Arts & Culture Office – its current costs and programs totaling $1.5
million – shifts from the General Fund to the new Arts, Culture and Heritage Fund. For 2025,
a total of $2.8 million is programmed for expenditure in the Arts, Culture, and Heritage Fund
(an increase of $1.3 million or 86% above the 2024 Budget). This additional funding, guided
by the bridge-year assessment results, is programmed as one-time dollars to support several
funding needs, including:
Bridge Year Arts Grant Funding ($432,000)
Experiments in Public Arts Program ($100,000)
Creative Neighborhoods ($30,000)
Artist Hiring Incentive Grants ($75,000)
One-year Fixed-Term Arts Grants Program Specialist ($101,600)
Events Sponsorships ($25,000)
Public Art Maintenance Reserve ($50,000)
It is worth noting that there are additional investments that support arts, culture, and heritage
made annually across the organization separate and in addition to budget allocated to the Arts
and Culture Office. In recent years, this includes $11.9 million in Community, Culture,
Resilience, and Safety Tax (CCRS) grant funding to arts and culture organizations for
facilities or facility enhancements, Facilities & Fleet Department funding to support public
art as a part of renovations of city-owned buildings, facility lease subsidies at $1 dollar/year
to arts organizations including the Boulder Museum of Contemporary Art, Chautauqua, and
the Dairy Arts Center, which in 2024 represented an estimated $6.3 million in lease
subsidies, and the 1% for public arts policy for capital projects (over $1 million in multi-year
funding).
Examples of these additional investments, in addition to Arts, Culture, and Heritage Fund
funding, included in the 2025 Recommended Budget are listed below:
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An additional $50,000 in one-time special events funding administered by the
Community Vitality Department to support events sponsorships across the
community
Over $56,000 from the Climate Initiatives Department supporting arts shows and
festivals such as the Bee Boulder Festival, Trash the Runway, and Meadow Music at
Chautauqua Event
A planned $70,000 for Arts in the Parks from the Parks & Recreation Department
Approximately $41,000 from the Open Space & Mountain Parks Department for art
sponsorship programming and the Meadow Music Chautauqua Event
Environmentally Sustainable
The city’s commitment to environmental, climate, and sustainability
initiatives is long-standing. In recent years, this has included additional
investments in open space, parks, and utilities, as well as voter-approved initiatives to support
new and expanded wildfire resilience and climate funding. These investments support the
city’s progress toward the community’s climate and energy goals, supporting the natural
environment and ecosystems, and advancing community resiliency through preparedness
efforts.
Community Wildfire Resilience – $1.56 million
The 2025 Recommended Budget includes a total of $1.56 million in Climate Tax funding for
initiatives such as the implementation of the Community Wildfire Protection Plan
($470,000), the new Community Wildfire Resilience Assistance Program ($559,000), and the
addition of a two-year fixed-term Wildfire Resilience Project Coordinator ($120,000). The
Community Wildfire Resilience program focuses on efforts to reduce risk of wildfire to
vulnerable homes and increase community preparedness with wildfire education and
resilience grants. Recognizing community significance in this area, the 2025 Budget
recommends a new fixed-term coordinator position to support the advancement and
implementation of this cross-departmental effort.
Water Quality – $3.9 million
The Water Quality program within the Utilities Department includes $130,000 in
enhancements to support an additional a new industrial mechanic position and an increase for
an existing Water Quality technician position from ¾ time to full-time.
The Water Quality technician works within the Water Resource Recovery Facility (WRRF)
Lab, which currently implements process upgrades to further reduce phosphorus in the
wastewater effluent. This enhancement in staffing supports the additional analyses required
for operations and in preparation for a new Colorado Discharge Permit.
In 2022, a two-year fixed-term position was approved to pilot a Utilities Greenways program
manager to determine whether the program functioned as intended and to address challenges
identified in a 2019 department assessment. This pilot has resulted in achieving the desired
programmatic outcomes; therefore, the department is seeking to convert the two-year fixed
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term position into a permanent role. Key outcomes of year one (2023) efforts included
noxious weed and invasive tree monitoring and removal, ecological support for Utilities
projects, program development, and coordination with a cross-departmental land manager
work group and the Mile High Flood District (MHFD). Converting this position to a
permanent role will support ongoing Greenways vegetation management.
Wastewater Treatment – $6 million
The Utilities Wastewater Treatment program includes $124,000 in enhancements to support a
new standard industrial mechanic position and an increase for machinery and equipment
operations and maintenance expenses.
The industrial mechanic position will contribute to the outcome of full compliance with all
permits, regulations, and reporting by maintaining infrastructure that is fundamental to
treatment process performance. Additionally, the position will support operations focused on
decreasing Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions over time by maximizing uptime of the biogas
upgrading system and ensuring that equipment is well-maintained and thus more energy
efficient.
Economically Vital
Investments in the city’s economic vitality are key to attracting,
sustaining, and retaining a diverse mix of businesses and residents.
Included in the 2025 Recommended Budget is $350,000 in one-time
enhancements that provide support for small businesses and
entrepreneurship, and maintains a dynamic economy for businesses, residents, and visitors.
The 2025 Recommended Budget includes continued investments in economic vitality
programs, and advances programming through two specific enhancements:
Small Business Support for Economic Resilience ($200,000): Additional one-time
funding for the City Manager’s Office of Economic Vitality program will support the
development and implementation of an Economic Vitality Strategy, named a key
council priority at the 2024 Council Retreat, which aims to expand current capacity
for small business support, including cultivating strategic partnerships for
revitalization, additional business incentives and financial assistance and enhanced
connection to resources and regional economic initiatives. This investment supports
the outcomes of increased awareness of resources available to Boulder businesses,
including women- and minority-owned businesses, and continued technical assistance
and connections to financing and other resources to help small businesses thrive.
Outdoor Dining Program ($150,000): The Outdoor Dining Program began as a pilot
program in 2020 with the rapid expansion of outdoor dining during the pandemic. An
outcome of this change shifted business operations and enhanced cultural vibrancy
within the downtown districts, including University Hill and Downtown Pearl Street
Mall area. Currently the city has 30 parklets predominantly located within these two
districts. This funding enables the city to purchase two additional parklets to expand
the Outdoor Dining Program. This additional funding will support the program
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outcomes of enhancing cultural vibrancy as well as maintaining well assets within
special districts.
Accessible & Connected
The city’s Accessible & Connected SER Framework goal area focuses on creating and maintaining a safe, accessible, and sustainable multimodal transportation system and fostering connectivity and engagement across the community. The 2025 Recommended Budget uplifts Accessible and Connected strategies within the Citywide Strategic Plan, including:
Strategy 7. Invest in and maintain a transportation system with an array of multi-modal choices to reduce vehicle miles traveled and greenhouse gas emissions.
Strategy 8. Improve accessibility to city meetings, information, and programs through equitable engagement.
Supporting the advancement of these specific strategies includes $2.5 million in realignments and enhancements within the 2025 Recommended Budget. Specifically, this includes:
Community Connectors-in-Residence Programming ($40,000): An additional
$40,000 in one-time funding for the CC-in-R program will support mental health
services, professional development, and inclusive engagement expenses. In the 2024
Budget, $10,000 was approved in one-time funding to specifically support mental
health and well-being support. This continues this funding for another year and also
provides language access, meeting logistics and community event support, and
professional development.
University Hill Streetscape Investments ($1.4 million): A total of $1.4 million in
additional one-time funding will support renovations to revitalize public
infrastructure and enhance connectivity between the downtown and University Hill
areas. This investment includes transformation of medians with drought-resistant
places, artistic elements, improved lighting, upgraded alleys, and diverse landscaping
solutions.
Shared Micromobility Enhancements ($78,000): Additional ongoing funding of
$78,000 will support the Transportation Planning Program to advance shared
micromobility efforts, including $12,000 to focus on programmatic outreach to
ensure awareness and utilization of equity programs and in support of low-income
community members. Through this effort specifically, additional outreach services to
micromobility equity zones will occur with assistance from the CC-in-R program.
Additionally, within the total micromobility enhancements, $51,000 will support
additional education and safety messaging and $15,000 for wayfinding signage.
Transportation & Mobility Realignments for Streetlight Maintenance and Operations
($755,000): The Transportation & Mobility Department realigned a total of $755,000
from the Operations Program gas and electricity budget to support operations and
maintenance with the city’s acquisition of 4,500 streetlights. Specifically, this
realignment supports $300,000 to fund the new Streetlight Maintenance Capital
Maintenance Program in the Capital Improvement Plan (CIP), $225,000 to Repairs
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and Maintenance (R&M) Infrastructure for ongoing streetlight maintenance, and
$230,000 to fund two new Streetlight Maintenance Technician positions.
Electric Bus Acquisitions, Maintenance, and Transportation Events ($226,000): A
total of $226,000 was realigned from the Transportation & Mobility Administration
Program to several transportation operations and maintenance items within the
Transportation & Mobility Planning Program. This includes a one-time realignment
of $165,000 to pay for the city's portion of the acquisition of seven electric buses for
the HOP bus service, and an ongoing realignment of $62,000 for base cost increases
in the Transportation Planning program for bus stop maintenance, specialized
paratransit, annual Walk & Bike Month and Winter Bike to Work Day, Flex Service
and employee dues and memberships.
2025-2030 Capital Improvement Program
The 2025-2030 Capital Improvement Program (CIP) includes $190.2 million for 2025, and a
total of $807.4 million in planned spending between 2025-2030 to support over 200 capital
projects. Due to the multi-year nature of the capital program, appropriations for capital
projects do not expire at the end of the fiscal year and remain in effect until the project is
completed. In addition, capital appropriation from the annual CIP may significantly fluctuate
between years due to timing of projects and availability of funding. This can be demonstrated
by the range in annual spending in the 2025-2030 CIP, ranging between $59 million and
$190.2 million over the six-year period.
Capital maintenance and enhancement projects typically comprise most investments within
the CIP. By total number of capital projects, the 2025-2030 the CIP breakdown is expected to
be 55% capital maintenance projects and 32% capital enhancement projects, once again
demonstrating the city’s continued focus and investment into taking care of its existing
physical assets in the community. By total amount of funding, the 2025-2030 CIP comprises
40% capital enhancement projects, 45% capital maintenance projects, and 12% planned
spending for new facilities and infrastructure.
Summarized by the three main capital project types, key capital projects in the 2025-2030
CIP include:
Capital Enhancement
East Boulder Community Center Retrofit and Renovations ($5 million in 2025, $47.5
million in 2025-30 CIP)
Arapahoe Trunk Sewer Replacement ($29 million total in 2025-2030 CIP)
Civic Area Phase II ($2 million in 2025, $17.5 million 2025-2030 CIP)
Violet Avenue Bridge ($1 million in 2025, $7.5 million in 2025-2030 CIP)
Gregory Creek Flood Mitigation ($5.4 million total in 2025-2030 CIP)
Pearl Street Mall Project ($150,000 in 2025, $3.2 million in 2025-2030 CIP)
Capital Maintenance
Potable Water Transmission System Maintenance ($10.7 million in 2025, $44.8
million in 2025-2030 CIP)
Barker Dam Outlet Rehabilitation & Replacement ($31.4 million in 2025-2030 CIP)
2025 Recommended Budget Study Session 23
Packet Page 26 of 45
Transportation Pavement Management Program ($5.1 million in 2025, $31.4 million
in 2025-30 CIP)
Spruce Garage Renovations ($5 million in 2025, $5.8 million in 2025-2030 CIP)
New Facility/Infrastructure
Alpine-Balsam and Western City Campus Implementation ($40 million in 2025)
Fire Stations #2 and #4 Replacement ($6 million in 2025, $38 million in 2025-30
CIP)
Primos Park in North Boulder ($2.9 million in 2025)
The Western City Campus and Affordable Housing at Alpine-Balsam
City Council accepted the Facilities Master Plan (FMP) in November 2021 to address an
aging portfolio, advance important climate goals, minimize total cost of ownership, and begin
significant work towards greater consolidation of city facilities and sustainable building
enhancements and developments.
In May 2023 council gave direction related to the implementation of the FMP and the
development of the Western City Campus at Alpine-Balsam site, including support for the
consolidation of city facilities and utilizing building sale proceeds to support future facility
developments. Staff shared an update on the Western City Campus Alpine-Balsam Project
with City Council again in January 2024. This policy direction affirmed the importance of the
Western City Campus Alpine-Balsam Project and informed the approach to project financing.
The total project cost is $158.3 million, with $18.3 million approved in the 2024 Budget and
$140 million that will support the planned construction beginning in 2025.
The project will also support horizontal infrastructure and parking structure improvements
that will serve the entire Alpine-Balsam site, which will include residential development on
roughly 75% of the site north of Alpine Avenue. Notably, these elements of this project will
also support the city’s largest affordable housing development to-date with 144 new
affordable housing units administered by Boulder Housing Partners (BHP).
The Western City Campus will be comprised of three repurposed buildings that will have
undergone conversion to be all-electric and highly energy-efficient when complete, making
significant progress towards the city’s climate action goals. The Pavilion building is being
added to with mass timber, following sustainable harvesting practices, to continue the low-
carbon impact of the project. When taken in whole and including the accomplishments of the
sustainable deconstruction of the hospital, the entire project is on track to be a leader in low-
carbon redevelopment.
For 2025, the project requires $140 million in funding to support construction of the new
Western City Campus.
•$40 million is included in the 2025 Budget and will be supported by several sources,
including:
o $10 million one-time General Fund transfer to the Governmental Capital
Fund (proposed)
o $10-$15 million in anticipated cost-share reimbursement related to the
housing development
2025 Recommended Budget Study Session 24
Packet Page 27 of 45
o Approximately $3-$5 million in potential grants and rebates
o Approximately $10.5 million in future building sale proceeds from the
consolidation of city buildings
•$100 million is anticipated in proceeds from issuing Certificates of Participation
(COP). The ordinance requesting City Council approval of the COP issuance will
include a request to appropriate the COP proceeds. Staff anticipates bringing that
package to council in early 2025.
The 2025 Budget also includes funding for the first annual debt service payment on the
anticipated COPs of $6.2 million.
American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) Spending Update and Grants Strategy
In the 2024 First Adjustment-to-Base, City Council approved the remaining $8.3 million in
unappropriated and unencumbered American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds of the total
$20.1 million received. ARPA funds support expanded programs and city services such as
behavioral health services, financial and rental assistance services, economic recovery and
workforce training implementation, and winter sheltering for the unhoused population.
ARPA funding will be fully committed by Dec. 31, 2024 and is approved to be spent through
Dec. 31, 2026, as required by the federal government.
The 2025 Recommended Budget includes $450,000 of one-time funding that extends and
expands economic recovery efforts initially developed using ARPA funds. This one-time
funding will enable support for economic vitality initiatives, including Small Business
Support for Economic Resilience ($200,000), Outdoor Dining Program ($150,000), and
Experiments in Public Art ($100,000). While the 2025 Budget proposes extending these
initiatives, the city plans to evaluate all ARPA programs comprehensively in the 2026 budget
development process to understand outcomes and level of impact of programmatic
investments.
In addition to ARPA funds, the city continues to focus on a grant strategy that seeks to
support high-priority initiatives and critical needs of the organization by focusing on
opportunities around human services, homelessness and mental/behavioral health including
the high-utilizer program, fleet electrification and other climate resilience and sustainability
initiatives, and greater connectivity between University Hill and Downtown Boulder. The
city has received 13 awards so far in 2024, totaling $1.85 million, not including the recently
awarded EPA Climate Pollution Reduction Grant to DRCOG, which will have direct impacts
to the city. Support from these awards span across departments to advance activities such as
Mount Sanitas trail improvements, electric vehicle charging stations, overtime for Driving
Under the Influence (DUI) police enforcement, and the Parks & Recreation EXPAND
Program for individuals living with disabilities.
Unfunded Needs & Long-Term Financial Strategy
As shared in the Financial Forecast and during prior council budget discussions, the city is
focused on developing a Long-Term Financial Strategy to establish a plan for future funding
opportunities, financial sustainability and resilience, and ultimately, supporting service
2025 Recommended Budget Study Session 25
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delivery across the community. During the 2024 Council Retreat, council members identified
the Long-Term Financial Strategy as a top council workplan priority.
The Long-Term Financial Strategy will support the achievement of the community and city’s
long-term goals as aligned to the SER Framework and the Boulder Valley Comprehensive
Plan, by examining past practices, learning from recent financial lessons, exploring
sustainable and alternative funding mechanisms, and planning proactively to uplift and shift
in a new direction toward an equitable, resilient, and stable fiscal strategy.
This work is that much more important in times of constraint. The city has many underfunded
and unfunded needs across the organization, including funding for existing core services such
as transportation, parks, fleet, and facilities. In recent years, these underfunded needs across
the city have seen significant impacts of rising costs and inflationary pressures. While the
2025 Recommended Budget includes many one-time investments across these areas,
sustainable ongoing funding is required into the future to continue to support existing core
services and program levels.
Unfunded and Underfunded Needs
Recent budgets have made important investments to advance many council and community
priorities. To achieve these investments, the city examined revenue projections and risk
posture, improved personnel budgeting to maximize the use of resources, and other
enhancements to free up as many ongoing dollars as possible. In exchange for advancing
these ongoing initiatives, the city’s ability to advance new initiatives and ongoing funding
commitments requires heightened prioritization and trade-off discussions to ensure support
for community and citywide goals. While the 2025 Recommended Budget includes major
one-time investments toward unfunded and underfunded needs, as well as strategic support
for one-time initiatives, the city’s demands for programming and services continue to exceed
available ongoing revenue.
The city’s unfunded needs are currently estimated at approximately $380 million for ongoing
building maintenance, capital infrastructure needs, transportation construction and
maintenance, affordable housing funding, and human services and basic needs, to name a
few. Below are a few specific examples:
Recreation Centers $130,000,000
City Building Maintenance Backlog 53,000,000
Park Asset Maintenance 50,000,000
Civic Area Project 23,000,000
Valmont South Project 20,000,000
Reservoir Project 13,500,000
Pearl Street Mall Project 10,000,000
Tom Watson Park Project 10,000,000
Transportation Capital Maintenance 7,000,000
Harlow Plats Project 7,000,000
Core Arterial Network Folsom Street Final Design and Construction 6,000,000
High-Utilizers Program - Property Acquisition and Operating Costs 5,000,000
2025 Recommended Budget Study Session 26
Packet Page 29 of 45
Reimagine Policing Plan Implementation 4,113,000
Advanced Life Support/EMS Implementation 4,000,000
Transportation Median Maintenance and Irrigation Systems 3,758,000
Core Arterial Network 30th Street Final Design and Construction 3,500,000
Affordable Housing Funding 3,500,000
Snow and Ice Response Program Expansion 3,070,000
Primos Park Project 3,000,000
Guaranteed Income Pilot Program (ARPA-Funded) 2,000,000
Business Equity and Economic Vitality Investments 2,000,000
Fire Apparatus Replacement and Maintenance 1,800,000
IT Broadband System Maintenance, Replacements, Security 1,500,000
Fire-Rescue Additional Staffing 1,230,000
Process Design for Climate Resilience and Adaptation Funding 500,000
These known unfunded needs, and recent and upcoming issues have reemphasized the need
for a long-term financial strategy. The city’s shift to an outcomes-based budgeting approach
marks an initial step. Now, the focus shifts toward the development of a comprehensive
financial strategy to guide the city forward.
Long-Term Financial Strategy Background, Progress, and Timeline
The Long-Term Financial Strategy builds upon prior policy guidance related to sustainable
funding for the City of Boulder. The city commissioned a Blue-Ribbon Commission (BRC)
on Revenue Stabilization in 2008 that developed a comprehensive report related to
sustainable revenue and budgeting approaches. The BRC issued reports in 2008 and 2010,
calling for a comprehensive financial plan, the realignment of resources to better meet
community goals, cautioned against the over-reliance on retail sales tax and dedicated
funding sources, and encouraged the city to pursue a performance measurement system
related to budget.
To further this work, the city established a Financial Strategy Committee in 2019 to serve as
an advisory group to support the development and oversight of a long-term financial strategy.
Shortly thereafter, due to the onset of the pandemic, the city shifted into a position of
response and reactiveness. In 2022, staff reengaged this effort by elevating recommendations
from the BRC reports and initiating the three-year implementation plan for BRE outcomes-
based budgeting approach in alignment with the greater SER Framework. Staff also
performed a dedicated funding analysis, which highlighted the approximately 68% of all city
funding that is dedicated or restricted for a specific purpose. Dedicated revenues restrict
flexibility of funding to meet community priorities of the moment. For sales and use tax, the
single largest source of revenue for the city, approximately 56% of revenues are dedicated to
specific uses. Given the city’s reliance on dedicated funding, it is extremely important to
maximize the use of these resources as aligned with community expectations, council
priorities and citywide needs.
While the General Fund tends to receive a majority of the discussion due to its flexibility of
use and funding of core governmental services, such as public safety, parks, human services,
and homelessness services, other funding sources – including those supporting transportation,
2025 Recommended Budget Study Session 27
Packet Page 30 of 45
parks, housing, and facilities and fleet – have become more strained in recent years due to the
rising costs of performing core service operations and supporting community needs and
citywide goals.
As outlined in the BRC and a guiding principle, the Long-Term Financial Strategy aims to
support revenue stability and sufficiency, which would look to rebalance revenue structures,
research alternative funding mechanisms, and outline key ballot strategies.
The Long-Term Financial Strategy contains several key components, including the
following:
Establish a Long-Term Financial Plan that outlines guiding principles, performs a
current state assessment, recommends updates to financial policies and commitments
to best practices, and future strategic steps. Staff has begun this work and aims to
finalize the Long-Term Financial Plan in the fall of 2024, which will serve as a
strategic planning document to guide the financial strategy forward and provide
supporting direction on and priorities of future action steps.
Conduct a Comprehensive Fee Inventory and Study to identify true cost of service
levels and establish citywide policies and practices related to fees and fee updates.
Work will begin this fall to inventory current fees and methodologies, assess and
priorities updates, and determine needs for fee studies. Staff anticipates completing
this work by quarter 2 of 2025.
Define Core Service Levels to understand service level requirements across the
organization. This action step will involve community engagement to gather valuable
input on community priorities. Staff anticipates completing this action step during
2025.
Explore Alternative Funding Mechanisms to support core city services and
community needs. This action step will include analyzing funding mechanisms,
researching funding opportunities, and identifying strategic revenue sources to
consider. Staff will begin this work in the fall of 2024 with a goal of completion
during 2025.
Refine Citywide Financial Policies to perform updates in support of the Long-Term
Financial Plan’s guiding principles. This effort is currently underway, and staff
anticipates completing this by quarter 1 of 2025.
Develop a Ballot Measure Strategy for 2025 and 2026. This effort will include
Financial Strategy Committee and Council review in the 2025 ballot measures
planning and 2026 annual budget discussions.
These goals and action steps outlined in the Long-Term Financial Strategy will guide future
decision making, both within the budget and as we approach major policy issues that
implicate the city’s long-term financial health. This comprehensive strategy will help guide
us forward as we seek to establish an equitable, resilient, and stable fiscal strategy to meet
our greatest needs as a community.
NEXT STEPS
•Adoption of the 2025 Budget, first reading on October 3, second reading on October
17.
2025 Recommended Budget Study Session 28
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ATTACHMENTS
A.ARPA Spending and Programmatic Update
B. 2025 Budget Engagement Summary – Citywide Budget Questionnaire
C. List of Unfunded Needs
2025 Recommended Budget Study Session 29
Packet Page 32 of 45
2025 Recommended Budget Memorandum
Attachment A – ARPA Spending and Programmatic Update
In the First Adjustment-to-Base 2024, City Council approved the remaining $8.3 million in
unappropriated and unencumbered American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds of the total $20.1 million
received. Utilizing the $20.1 million, the city is advancing support in many areas, including housing and
homelessness, economic, financial, basic needs, mental and behavioral health, arts and culture, and public
health. Staff in multiple departments have been diligently working to ensure ARPA funds are allocated
and expended in alignment with the city’s desired outcomes for the use of ARPA funding while adapting
to evolving community conditions, needs, and priorities. These outcomes are:
1.City Organizational and Financial Recovery
•Community organizations, institutions, and businesses are aware of available resources through
ARPA.
•As appropriate, enhance community access to services, programs, and facilities that were limited
because of the pandemic for those who are in most need.
•Diverse community members increasingly experience Boulder as a socially thriving and
economically resilient community.
•City employees feel safe, secure and supported throughout workplace transition to a hybrid work
environment.
2.Community Recovery
Invest in community, including residents, nonprofits, and businesses negatively impacted by the pandemic
with the intended outcomes of:
•Voices and experiences of community members are heard and amplified through neighborhood
connections; nonprofit, cultural, philanthropic agencies; and other local institutions that help our
community function.
•Households, small business and nonprofit agencies receive assistance that add value to that which
is provided by other federal, state or local entities.
•Community members increasingly experience short- and long-term improvements to their socio-
economic safety, security and well-being. Meaningfully engage and amplify community voices
through partnership with Community Connectors and the network of nonprofit, cultural,
philanthropic, and local institutions that help our community function.
3.Inclusive Economic Recovery
Invest in efforts that catalyze economic revitalization in the community, especially in industries and
workforces most impacted by the pandemic, with the intended outcomes of:
•Continued viability as a regional job center, consistent with the economic sustainability goals.
•Continued support of a diversified employment base and business types.
•Increase and expand inclusive goods and services in alignment with the Citywide Retail Strategy.
4.Transformative Long-Term Investment
•City infrastructure such as water, sewer and broadband are increasingly available, accessible and
affordable for the benefit of all community members.
•The city increasingly identifies and acts upon opportunities to leverage funding through other
public, private and foundation sources.
2025 Recommended Budget Study Session 30
Attachment A – ARPA Spending and Programmatic Update
Packet Page 33 of 45
ARPA funds must be spent or obligated1 by the city no later than December 31, 2024 and the city and
subrecipients of city ARPA funds will have until December 31, 2026 to use those funds for programs and
services. The city has already expended roughly 68% of its ARPA funds and remaining funds will be
spent or obligated by the deadline. The city is on track for completing all expenditures by the 2026
deadline. Staff are confident that the city’s investments – informed by community needs and opportunities
–are already benefitting people, organizations and businesses in many ways. As many project and
program investments are still in progress, the city has not yet comprehensively gathered all outcome data
and plans to provide an update on the evaluation during the 2026 budget development process.
One-time funding, like ARPA, can result in a funding gap when the grant dollars are fully expended. Staff
has worked to avoid this “fiscal cliff” by being transparent and honest about ARPA funding limitations;
and wherever possible to make one-time investments in improving program structures and systems that
will continue to serve our community years after final expenditures have been made. Staff is also
profoundly aware that some community needs have already been outpacing the level of support the city is
able to provide. This is due to factors the city alone cannot control, such as higher cost of food, materials
and household goods; higher housing and commercial real estate costs; the increasing cost of doing
business; changes in the habits of tourists and consumers; state and federal policies affecting the cost of
health care, childcare, education, etc. For these and other community needs, the city will continue to draw
on its values and budget strategies to utilize our resources wisely.
Below is a brief summary of key ARPA investments to date. Program details can also be found on the
city’s ARPA Funding Dashboard.
Arts + Culture Support. All but two projects in this category are complete. This includes workforce
stabilization grants distributed to nonprofit organizations to rehire administrative positions that were let
go during the pandemic. This has proven successful, with organizations receiving grants and providing
plans to leverage those funds to keep those positions hired after the ARPA funding expires. In addition,
48 organizations were awarded Artist Hiring Incentive grants which facilitated the contracting of Boulder-
based artists in the performance or creation of new work at living wages. The success of this grant in
encouraging the hiring of local artists and a living wage indicates to staff that the program may be worth
considering for future ongoing funding.
For community arts programs, ARPA funding provided the Experiments in Public Art program to create
an arts incubator for temporary public performances and installations with the goal of rebuilding
connections lost during the pandemic. Additional funding was approved in the first adjustment-to-base to
support the continuation of this project, and further one-time support is included in the 2025
Recommended Budget for this program. Twelve artists and business owners served on teams that
deployed seven projects, with a few more art installations planned for this year. One of the projects that is
nearing completion is the Creative Neighborhoods Mural projects: collaborations between local artists
and residents for the installation of new works of art in neighborhoods based on the same theme of
rebuilding lost connections between neighbors.
Finally, ARPA funding allowed for the reestablishing of creative industry programs that could not be
implemented due to inadequate funding. This includes a second project that is currently underway: the
Census of Processional Artists which will revisit data about the evolving economic impact and conditions
of Boulder’s many thousands of working artists.
1 The U.S. Code of Federal Regulations defines “obligation” as “an order placed for property and services and
entering into contracts, subawards and similar transactions that require payment”.
2025 Recommended Budget Study Session 31
Attachment A – ARPA Spending and Programmatic Update
Packet Page 34 of 45
Guaranteed Income (Elevate Boulder). In January 2024, low-income community members began
receiving $500 per month in direct cash assistance. Monthly payments will continue through January
2026 with the goal of greater financial stability for participants and their households. Indicators of
program success include increased food security, improved mental health, and the ability to withstand
financial emergencies. Staff are pleased that most project participants chose to engage in project survey
and storytelling activities; the first change-to-baseline survey results will be available in December 2024
and throughout the remainder of the program. Staff are assessing options for continuing the program post-
pilot through ongoing investments from government and private sources.
Manufactured Housing Communities Support. The city allocated $3.0 million in ARPA funds to
support first and second mortgages for very low-income households in the Ponderosa manufactured
housing community. The program goal is to increase homeownership and opportunities for generational
wealth-building for these and other low-income residents for decades to come. Since funds were allocated
in spring 2024, mortgage applications are already in process for the first four households.
Building Home. Complementing the city’s investments in affordable housing and homelessness services,
this project provides peer support and a Housing Retention Team for unhoused community members with
Permanently Supportive Housing vouchers, and who have the most challenges with maintaining their
housing. With partner agencies like Focus Reentry and All Roads, community members are experiencing
closer connections, less isolation, increased support to avoid behaviors that could otherwise lead to
eviction. Staff is assessing options for continuing the program post-ARPA expenditure, through ongoing
investments from government and private sources.
Strengthening Behavioral Health Safety Net. Behavioral health continues to be a priority in post-
pandemic society. The city’s $2.5 million to support the behavioral health workforce and infrastructure in
our community has so far been allocated to provide 1) support for Mental Health Partners with staff
recruitment and retention; enhancing workforce diversity and an inclusive environment; and
strengthening institutional structures and strategies; 2) launching of the Hope Institute for local suicide-
prevention services; 3) support for the BVSD Wellness Centers which serve a wide range of mental health
needs for teens; 4) offsetting the devastating impacts of the Medicaid public health emergency unwind on
Clinica, and maintaining quality mental health services for low-income community members. Staff is
working to allocate the remainder of these funds for professional Medicaid administrative support for an
anticipated 12 local nonprofit agencies and provider networks to increase capacity for mental health
services for low-income community members.
Additional Basic Needs Support. Funds have been allocated and expended through grants to local food
pantries and voucher programs to keep families fed, given the high demand for nutritional and culturally-
appropriate foods; rental assistance to keep families housed and prevent eviction due to lack of funds;
water utility assistance and financial assistance for low-income community members who could not
otherwise pay medical, utility, housing, transportation or caregiving expenses; temporary sheltering for
homeless families and those who survived domestic violence; and to supplement the costs of severe
weather sheltering for homeless individuals.
Child Care Capacity & Industry Support. Investments in child care workforce support to date, have
included a grant to support training for at-home child care providers who are often low-income and
experience institutional barriers to child care certification; an investment in the Thriving Providers
project, for $500 per month direct cash assistance to Family, Friend and Neighbor at-home child care
providers for 18 months; and initial investments in renovations for additional child care space in the city
2025 Recommended Budget Study Session 32
Attachment A – ARPA Spending and Programmatic Update
Packet Page 35 of 45
to address overall capacity needs. Staff expects to allocate the remainder of funds for grants to nonprofit
childcare agencies in collaboration with Boulder County’s Survive & Thrive program.
Economic Recovery Support. Over $1.9 million of ARPA funding has been used to support inclusive
economic recovery to date. These funds have been used to facilitate inclusive economic recovery through
grants and programs to help speed the recovery of businesses and industries that experienced the greatest
impact from the pandemic. Examples include grants of up to $5,000 to small businesses; expenditures to
support restaurants by expanding safe and accessible outdoor dining space and subsidize food delivery
fees; campaigns to increase customer traffic to help speed the recovery of the hospitality, retail, and
restaurant industry; and programs to support BIPOC-owned businesses. The remaining ARPA funding
appropriated for economic support will be used for programs to support continued economic recovery,
strengthen economic resilience, address the affordability of commercial space, and expand business and
employment opportunities for historically underserved communities.
Summary of ARPA Appropriation Categories and Spent-to-Date as of 7/31/2024
$431,065
$1,589,269
$2,712,199
$9,057,169
$1,600,000
$2,700,000
$3,800,000
$12,000,000
Human Services / Economic Recovery
City Operations
Economic Recovery
Human Services
Total ARPA Allocated and Expended Funds by Outcome Area
Allocated Expended
2025 Recommended Budget Study Session 33
Attachment A – ARPA Spending and Programmatic Update
Packet Page 36 of 45
2025 Budget Community Engagement
Questionnaire
May 20, 2024, 8:55 AM
Contents
2
5
i.Summary of responses
ii.Survey questions
2025 Recommended Budget Study Session 34
Attachment B - 2025 Budget Community Engagement Questionnaire
Packet Page 37 of 45
Summary Of Responses
As of May 20, 2024, 8:55 AM, this forum had: Topic Start Topic End
Attendees:1215 April 9, 2024, 2:41 PM May 17, 2024, 5:00 PM
Responses:1014
Hours of Public Comment:50.7
QUESTION 1
Please rank the following seven SER goals in order of highest to lowest priority based on your personal and
community needs. Click on the objective to read more about it and rank it. Once you have designated the ranking,
you can change theorder with the arrows to the right.
1. Safe
2. Healthy and socially thriving
3. Livable
4. Responsibly governed
5. Economically vital
6. Environmentally sustainable
7. Accessible and connected
QUESTION 2
What additional feedback would you like to provide about your ranking?
Answered 601
Skipped 413
QUESTION 3
Would you like to share any additional input on the City of Boulder’s upcoming 2025 budget?
Answered 419
Skipped 595
2025 Budget Community Engagement Questionnaire
Community members, we want your feedback on the 2025 Budget! Help us rank the City of Boulder's Sustainability,
Equity, and Resilience goal areas based on your top priorities for the community.
2025 Recommended Budget Study Session 35
Attachment B - 2025 Budget Community Engagement Questionnaire
Packet Page 38 of 45
QUESTION 4
What is your age range?
% Count
Under 18 0.1%1
18 to 24 1.2% 12
25 to 34 8.0% 80
35 to 54 35.7% 357
55 to 64 21.6% 216
65 and over 26.1% 261
I prefer not to say 7.2% 72
QUESTION 5
What race or ethnicity do you identify with most?
% Count
American Indian or Alaska Native 0.5%5
Asian 1.4% 14
Black or African American 0.7%7
Hispanic or Latino/a 3.3% 32
Native Hawaiian or other Pacific Islander 0.2%2
White 72.2% 707
Two or more races 6.4% 63
2025 Budget Community Engagement Questionnaire
Community members, we want your feedback on the 2025 Budget! Help us rank the City of Boulder's Sustainability,
Equity, and Resilience goal areas based on your top priorities for the community.
2025 Recommended Budget Study Session 36
Attachment B - 2025 Budget Community Engagement Questionnaire
Packet Page 39 of 45
% Count
Other 1.6% 16
I prefer not to say 13.6% 133
QUESTION 6
How would you describe your annual household income?
% Count
Less than $25,000 a year 2.8% 28
$25,000 to $49,999 a year 6.5% 64
$50,000 to $99,999 a year 19.5% 192
$100,000 to $149,999 a year 18.8% 185
$150,000 a year or more 32.5% 320
I prefer not to say 20.0% 197
QUESTION 7
Do you own or rent your home?
% Count
Own 78.3% 776
Rent 13.8% 137
Other 1.7%17
I prefer not to say 6.2% 61
2025 Budget Community Engagement Questionnaire
Community members, we want your feedback on the 2025 Budget! Help us rank the City of Boulder's Sustainability,
Equity, and Resilience goal areas based on your top priorities for the community.
2025 Recommended Budget Study Session 37
Attachment B - 2025 Budget Community Engagement Questionnaire
Packet Page 40 of 45
Survey Questions
QUESTION 1
Please rank the following seven SER goals in order of highest to
lowest priority based on your personal and community needs. Click
on the objective to read more about it and rank it. Once you have
designated the ranking, you can change theorder with the arrows to
the right.
• Safe
• Healthy and socially thriving
• Livable
• Accessible and connected
• Environmentally sustainable
• Responsibly governed
• Economically vital
QUESTION 2
What additional feedback would you like to provide about your
ranking?
QUESTION 3
Would you like to share any additional input on the City of Boulder’s
upcoming 2025 budget?
QUESTION 4
What is your age range?
• Under 18
• 18 to 24
• 25 to 34
• 35 to 54
• 55 to 64
• 65 and over
• I prefer not to say
QUESTION 5
What race or ethnicity do you identify with most?
• American Indian or Alaska Native
• Asian
• Black or African American
• Hispanic or Latino/a
• Native Hawaiian or other Pacific Islander
• White
• Two or more races
• Other
• I prefer not to say
QUESTION 6
How would you describe your annual household income?
• Less than $25,000 a year
• $25,000 to $49,999 a year
• $50,000 to $99,999 a year
• $100,000 to $149,999 a year
• $150,000 a year or more
• I prefer not to say
QUESTION 7
Do you own or rent your home?
• Own
• Rent
• Other
• I prefer not to say
2025 Budget Community Engagement Questionnaire
Community members, we want your feedback on the 2025 Budget! Help us rank the City of Boulder's Sustainability,
Equity, and Resilience goal areas based on your top priorities for the community.
2025 Recommended Budget Study Session 38
Attachment B - 2025 Budget Community Engagement Questionnaire
Packet Page 41 of 45
Attachment C – List of Unfunded Needs
The city’s unfunded needs are currently estimated at approximately $380 million for ongoing and
one-time building maintenance, capital infrastructure needs, transportation construction and
maintenance, affordable housing funding, public safety staffing and operations, climate resiliency,
and human services and basic needs, to name a few. The following list is not comprehensive and will
be updated in further detail as part of the city’s Long-Term Financial Strategy.
Unfunded Need Amount
Recreation Centers 130,000,000
City Building Maintenance Backlog 53,000,000
Park Asset Maintenance 50,000,000
Civic Area Project 23,000,000
Valmont South Project 20,000,000
Reservoir Project 13,500,000
Pearl Street Mall Project 10,000,000
Tom Watson Park Project 10,000,000
Transportation Capital Maintenance* 7,000,000
Harlow Plats Project 7,000,000
Core Arterial Network Folsom Street Final Design and Construction 6,000,000
High-Utilizers Program - Property Acquisition and Operating Costs* 5,000,000
Reimagine Policing Plan Implementation* 4,113,000
Advanced Life Support/EMS Implementation* 4,000,000
Transportation Median Maintenance and Irrigation Systems* 3,758,000
Core Arterial Network 30th Street Final Design and Construction 3,500,000
Affordable Housing Funding* 3,500,000
Snow and Ice Response Program Expansion* 3,070,000
Primos Park Project 3,000,000
Guaranteed Income Pilot Program (ARPA-Funded)* 2,000,000
Business Equity and Economic Vitality Investments* 2,000,000
Fire Apparatus Replacement and Maintenance* 1,800,000
IT Broadband System Maintenance, Replacements, Security 1,500,000
Fire-Rescue Additional Staffing* 1,230,000
Core Arterial Network Iris Avenue Construction - Possible Grant Match 1,000,000
Police Overtime* 1,000,000
Full Court Software Replacement 1,000,000
Internal Services Support* 850,000
Building Home Program, Peer Support, Retention Services (ARPA-Funded)* 850,000
9.0 FTE Firefighters for Light Response* 807,300
Wildland and Water Rescue PPE, Vehicles, and Equipment 630,000
Process Design for Climate Resilience and Adaptation Funding* 500,000
City Employee Workforce Development Training, Career Counseling, Engagement
Surveys* 420,000
Day Service Center Mental/Behavioral and Peer Services* 420,000
Transportation Grant Match for Bus Electrification 400,000
2025 Recommended Budget Study Session 39
Attachment C – List of Unfunded Needs
Packet Page 42 of 45
Enhanced Human Services Funding* 210,000
EV Charging Units (Public Safety) 234,300
Police Victim Services Support, Crash Report and Accreditation Staffing* 467,300
Crisis Team As-Needed Clinician Support* 50,000
Neighborhood Community Connector Program* 43,000
Transportation CO 119 Connectivity Improvements to Future BRT/Bikeway Unidentified
Western City Campus (Alpine/Balsam) Transportation Connections Unidentified
Airport Funding Unidentified
Total 376,852,900
*Ongoing funding needed
2025 Recommended Budget Study Session 40
Attachment C – List of Unfunded Needs
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Item 5A – Addendum Memo 1
CITY OF BOULDER
CITY COUNCIL AGENDA ITEM ADDENDUM
MEETING DATE: October 3, 2024
AGENDA ITEM:
This addendum corrects two clerical errors related to the 1) 2025 Recommended
Budget shared on the 9/12 Study Session, and 2) City Council Agenda Item 5A –
2025 Recommended Budget 1st Reading Memorandum:
1. University Hill Commercial District Fund: an amendment to the 2025
Recommended Budget document to correct a clerical error within the University
Hill Commercial District Fund of the 2025 Recommended Budget, which was
released to City Council on August 30 and presented during the September 12
Council Study Session.
2. Average Utility Rate Increase: A correction to the clerical error concerning the
average utility rate increase for a typical single-family residential customer. This
error is included in City Council Agenda Item 5A – 2025 Recommended Budget
First Reading memorandum, which is included in the October 3 City Council
meeting packet.
DESCRIPTION:
1. University Hill Commercial District Fund:
This addendum is a clerical correction of a staff error in the 2025 Recommended Budget
document within the University Hill Commercial District Fund in the 2025 Capital Budget. As
submitted, the online 2025 Recommended Budget document for the University Hill Commercial
Area Project within the University Hill Commercial District Fund totals $977,500. The correct
budget supported by University Hill Commercial District Fund for this capital project is
$727,500, a correction of $250,000.
This capital project is specifically reflected in the Community Vitality Capital Improvement
Program Summary page, listed as $1,627,500 ($977,500 from University Hill Commercial
Packet Page 44 of 45
Item 5A – Addendum Memo 2
District Fund and $650,000 from the Governmental Capital Fund). This correction will adjust the
University Hill Commercial District Fund budget for the project to $727,500, for a total project
budget of $1,377,500. This correction to the capital project budget represents a clerical
correction and does not change the scope or intended funding level for the project.
Given that staff publicly released the 2025 Recommended Budget on August 30 and delivered to
City Council during the September 12 Budget Study Session, staff is including this addendum
for informative purposes only. If approved by Council on October 17, this staff amendment to
correct the capital budget within University Hill Commercial District Fund will reduce:
The total fund appropriation from $1,509,353 to $1,259,353,
The 2025 Recommended Budget from $589.5 million to $589.3 million, and,
The total 2025 Capital Budget from $190.2 million to $189.9 million.
2. Average Utility Rate Increase for Typical Single-Family Home:
This addendum serves to correct the mislabeling of Item 5A memorandum related to the average
monthly utility rate increase for a typical single-family residential customer. The City Council
Agenda Item 5A – 2025 Recommended Budget First Reading memorandum page 7 indicated an
average increase of $10.89 per month. The correct average utility bill increase for a typical
single-family home is $8.59 per month.
It is important to note that this correction does not affect the utility rates included in the Fee
Changes ordinance (Ordinance 8656); rather, it corrects the memorandum language of the
overall rate impact on a typical single-family residential customer. The corrected value of an
$8.59 monthly increase is also consistent with the information shared with the Water Resources
Advisory Board (WRAB) in July 2024.
Packet Page 45 of 45