The City of Boulder is facing an estimated $8 to $10 million budget shortfall, prompting officials to freeze hiring and ask departments to rein in spending for the remainder of the year.
The city announced the measures in a news release June 13, describing them as necessary to keep the city’s budget balanced amid growing financial uncertainty and flattening sales tax revenue.
The hiring freeze applies to most vacant positions and will remain in place through the end of the year, according to the city. Only “critical” roles, such as those related to public safety and water quality, will be considered for exceptions. Those hires will require approval from the city manager. Positions that have already been accepted will still move forward, the city said.
An estimated 85 positions could be impacted by the freeze, according to Sarah Huntley, a spokeswoman for the city. She said it is too soon to speculate about what services might be impacted.
“We do not take this step lightly, but we, like many other local governments, are facing challenging conditions,” City Manager Nuria Rivera-Vandermyde said in a news release on Friday. “We have a responsibility to ensure we can fulfill our obligations to serve our community within a balanced budget.”
Sale and use tax revenue, the city’s main source of revenue, has slowed. From 2020 to 2023, collections grew by more than 9% annually. That growth stalled over the past year. The city has also revised property tax revenue projections downward due to state legislation reducing assessment rates. Revenue from marijuana and vaping taxes has dropped as well, according to the city.
President Trump’s trade wars could drive up construction costs just as Boulder ramps up investments in major infrastructure projects.
While some grant-funded infrastructure projects may be less affected by tariffs due to “Buy America” provisions that require domestic sourcing of certain materials, city officials have said a large portion of federal funding remains in limbo. Roughly half of the federal money recently awarded to Boulder — about $55 million — has yet to be disbursed and could be vulnerable to future cuts, according to a city analysis released in March.
Rather than implementing across-the-board cuts, the city is asking departments to identify savings in hopes of avoiding deeper disruptions to essential services. The city wants to avoid mass layoffs, wage cuts or drawing from emergency reserves, according to the news release. The city has about $40 million in its general fund reserve.
The financial outlook is expected to shape key decisions in this year’s budget process. Boulder City Council will begin reviewing the 2026 budget later this summer.
Councilmembers are also weighing whether to place two tax measures on the November ballot. One would extend an existing sales tax, and another would create a new property tax to fund parks and capital projects.
Flattening sales tax revenue. You bet! In April 2021, the Boulder Arts and Crafts Gallery, a very successful and wildly popular $2,000,000 a year business, was forced to close its doors after 50 years in business because they couldn’t come up with the exorbitant $30K+ a month rent during the pandemic. There goes a chunk of change that could have gone into the City’s coffers. Tragic.
34 million dollars in tax breaks for Sundance isn’t looking like a very good investment right now.
Layoffs may be a reasonable option to consider. Wildly unpopular at the city for sure, and Nuria’s popularity would sink like a stone, but it’s time to take a clear-eyed look at what is actually needed. The $18 million price tag to “revitalize” the civic center and central park area is a case in point. City of Boulder staff spent years on the 2018 redesign and ended up changing it for the worse and making the creek more inaccessible. Yet, staff needs to justify its existence by continuously working on these types of projects while trying to generate interest from the public for something that is totally unnecessary. Stop interfering with the park. Save the funds for things that are actually needed.