On Oct. 23, the Boulder City Council adopted City Manager Nuria Rivera-Vandermyde’s proposed $521 million budget for 2026 in an 8-1 vote. Councilmember Taishya Adams voted against the adoption.
The vote finalizes a spending plan that slightly increases the city’s overall operating budget compared with 2025, but also includes departmental cuts and eliminates 19 mostly vacant positions. The cuts include reductions to the general fund for the first time since the Covid pandemic, aimed at closing a projected $7.5 million shortfall.
Rivera-Vandermyde called it “the hardest budget I’ve ever worked on in my professional career,” aside from the pandemic. The reductions come as sales tax revenue — Boulder’s largest single revenue source — has flattened, and more than $50 million in federal funds remain undistributed, creating added uncertainty for city finances. Additionally, property tax is rising at the lowest rate the city has seen since 2011.
The 2026 budget also relies on two new fees with potentially far-reaching policy impacts. One would charge property owners who demolish single-family homes and replace them with larger ones a fee of $11 per additional square foot. That fee is up for a vote Nov. 6. The other is a transportation maintenance fee for property owners, calculated based on the estimated number of trips a property typically generates, and expected to raise $6.2 million a year to help fund long-delayed maintenance projects — part of a $380 million backlog in city infrastructure needs.
That measure passed 6-3 after a close debate, with Councilmembers Mark Wallach, Tara Winer and Taishya Adams voting against the fee. Mayor Aaron Brockett, Mayor Pro Tem Lauren Folkerts, and Councilmembers Matt Benjamin, Tina Marquis, Ryan Schuchard and Nicole Speer voted in favor.
Before the vote, Councilmember Wallach asked staff whether the city had a plan for adjusting the budget if disruptions at the federal level began affecting Boulder.
“I don’t think we yet understand the impact of what’s going to happen when SNAP benefits go away,” he said, referring to federal food assistance that will stop in November if the government shutdown continues and has already been reduced by the Republican budget bill.
“Those entities that are dealing with food insecurity are running out of food. Do we have any backup capabilities to step into the fray if it becomes really bad?”
Rivera-Vandermyde said “these types of emergencies are what we would look for” when considering dipping into city reserve funding, and staff will continue monitoring the situation.
Correction, October 24, 2025 3:23 pm: Update: This story has been updated to reflect that residents who demolish single-family homes and replace them with larger ones would be charged a fee of $11 per additional square foot, not $15. Additionally, information was added about council voting on that fee on Nov. 6.
“The 2026 budget also relies on two new fees with potentially far-reaching policy impacts. One would charge property owners who demolish single-family homes and replace them with larger ones a fee of $15 per additional square foot. The other is a transportation maintenance fee for property owners…”
“Potentially”? Definitely.
Boulder just became more expensive today than it was yesterday.
Has it occurred to anyone on the Boulder City Council that the sales tax revenues are flat because Boulder has consistently resisted allowing any discount retail chains from entering the city? We as a family do not shop in Boulder. Our purchases at Walmart, Sam’s, or Costco all create sales tax revenue for other districts.
Rather than reflexively adding new fees, how about looking for ways to increase the sales and tax revenue.
P.S. Publish each transportation project as it is completed, showing us how you exhibit good stewardship with the money you collect. Use multiple venues for this information.