DENVER — Denver Mayor Mike Johnston on Thursday unveiled a tight budget proposal for the 2025 fiscal year.
At $1.76 billion, it’s only slighter bigger than last year’s budget of $1.74 billion. It’s also the smallest increase in over a decade, according to the mayor.
“Like every American city, Denver faces headwinds from an uncertain national economic environment and the end of one-time federal ARPA (American Rescue Plan Act) funds,” Johnston said.
Denver’s chief financial officer, Nicole Doheny, said consumer spending has slowed, which impacts sales tax revenue the city relies on.
“We had a lot of growth and recovery coming out of the pandemic where consumer spending increased, but that growth has really started to moderate,” said Doheny. “A lot of other cities in the U.S. are experiencing very similar things that we are and really seeing the impacts of these macroeconomic trends.”
Johnston said the tighter budget means the city will have to prioritize its spending.
“We therefore must adapt and be prepared for any future scenario,” Johnston said. “That is why this budget balances investments for long-term growth with a focus on efficiency and smart stewardship of our fiscal health.”
While the homelessness and immigration crises are still ongoing priorities, the city will spend a lot less on them next year compared to this year. Spending on the mayor’s All In Mile High Initiative will decrease by $84 million, while spending to help asylum seekers will decrease by $90 million.
The mayor said it’s no longer necessary to spend tens of millions of dollars building out infrastructure like hotel shelters. He also said the rate of new immigrants coming to Denver has slowed.
"The border policy changes of the Harris and Biden administration have changed our inflow over the last six months,” Johnston said. “I think we've both built a far better system of services and we have fewer arrivals."
The mayor’s budget calls for increased spending in other areas, such as workforce development, expanding affordable housing and revitalizing downtown.
“About 25% of the city's jobs are downtown. That means the revival of downtown is not just important to the folks that live there or go there, it is the important to the folks that work there,” said Johnston.
On public safety, Johnston wants to expand police alternative programs like the Support Team Assisted Response (STAR) program, while also putting more uniformed officers on the streets.
"We will add 168 new recruits to our police department this year. It’s important to help bring our officer corps back to full strength,” Johnston said.
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The city will increase its investment in Denver Health, which is seeing an increase in uninsured patients. The budget also calls for $20 million in rent and utility assistance and $2 million to help people facing eviction with legal defense.
In addition, the budget also calls for more spending on climate initiative and programs aimed at helping the youth.
“These are critically important citywide priorities for us,” Johnston said. “We want to try to get ourselves back on target to hit our goal by 2030 of reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 65%.”
The budget will support 9,378 city employees — a decrease of about 200 positions. The mayor said no positions were furloughed and there were no layoffs. Instead, the city was able to restructure how some positions are funded, and some positions considered “lowest priorities” were left vacant.
Johnston said the positions left vacant were in departments and agencies throughout city government but said it did not include uniformed police officers.
The mayor's proposed budget will now go to the Denver City Council for consideration. Council members will hear from department and agency leaders and can submit amendments to the budget.
The mayor can accept or veto the council's amendments. The council can override a mayor's veto with a two-thirds vote from its members, but it's rare.
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