The Boulder City Council on Oct. 15 voted 7-1 to pass a $552.6 million budget for 2027. The budget comes as the city tries to address rising costs and revenue growth that has not kept up. It also comes during a city election in which the city’s management of its finances has been front and center.
The budget includes a $417 million operating budget, up from $408 million in 2026. That includes 5% raises for police and fire union members and 4% raises for other city employees.
The budget also allocates $135 million for next year as part of the city’s six-year capital improvement program. That covers projects such as South Boulder Creek flood mitigation at CU South, treated water equipment, sewer rehabilitation and renovations to the Pearl Street parking garage.
To help close a $6.3 million gap in the General Fund, the budget cuts about 24 full-time-equivalent positions, 13 of which are filled, according to city officials. The General Fund is the city’s largest fund and pays for a wide range of services. It is the second year in a row that City Manager Nuria Rivera-Vandermyde has proposed staffing cuts. Last year, three of the eliminated positions were filled.
The cuts follow several years of slow revenue growth. Sales tax revenue, the city’s largest single source of money, has come in below projections. The city has also lowered its property tax revenue projections because of state legislation that reduced assessment rates. About two-thirds of the city’s budget is restricted to dedicated purposes, meaning it cannot be moved to fill gaps.
Last year, the city manager recommended General Fund cuts to close a $7.5 million shortfall in the 2026 budget. It was the first time she had done so since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic. To close the current gap, she asked all departments to prepare ongoing 4% reductions.
Some of the cuts have drawn unusual pushback. Last month, the Parks and Recreation Advisory Board, which advises the council, voted against recommending the Parks and Recreation Department’s proposed budget. Board members cited service cuts. They also pointed to the plan for Spruce Pool in the Whittier neighborhood, which gets one-time funding to stay open next year but no ongoing funding beyond 2027.
After a public hearing earlier this month, Mayor Aaron Brockett, who is running for reelection, said, “One-time funding does not mean that there’s an intention to close it in 2028. And if I’m sitting at this dais again next year, I know I’ll be collaborating with my colleagues next year to make sure that we find additional funding for that in future years to make sure that it stays open.”
The budget also shifts some costs out of the General Fund and into other funds, including some that voters approved for specific purposes. For example, open space money will pay a larger share of the costs of Boulder Fire-Rescue’s Wildland Unit. Two of the five members of the Open Space Board of Trustees opposed the proposed 2027 Open Space and Mountain Parks budget, citing in part the city’s use of open space tax revenue to cover administrative services.
The council approved the budget less than three weeks before the Nov. 3 election, in which several candidates for council and mayor have made financial stewardship and accountability core parts of their campaigns. Most candidates oppose a measure, referred to voters unanimously by the council, that would allow the city to take on $400 million in debt repaid through additional property taxes.
In recent years, the council has played a relatively minor role in the city’s monthslong budget process. During the council’s first reading of the 2027 budget, Councilmembers Matt Benjamin and Rob Kaplan both pushed for more spending on wildfire protection. But the council did not agree on how to reallocate money during the meeting.
The budget includes about $11 million for wildfire resilience and response, about $1.6 million more than in the 2026 budget, according to Charlotte Huskey, the city’s budget officer. The council is scheduled to discuss its wildfire plan next week.
Councilmember Taishya Adams, who is running for mayor, is among those pushing for the council to move to a two-year budget cycle, which some councilmembers have said would give them more time to weigh in. Adams voted against the 2027 budget, citing, in part, concerns that the council’s discussion of budget tradeoffs comes too late in the process.
“I will be rejecting this plan not because I don’t think the staff is exceptional, because I think that they are and I also believe they use the best available evidence and things that they had, but they did lack council direction throughout this process,” Adams said at the Oct. 1 council meeting.
