Study Session Memo

City of Boulder City Council Study Session Summary Meeting Date: October 1, 2026

Agenda Title Consideration of a motion to accept the September 10, 2026, Study Session Summary regarding the 2027 Recommended Budget for City of Boulder

Staff Contact • •

Charlotte Huskey, Budget Officer Krista Morrison, Chief Financial Officer

Draft Motion Language Staff requests council consideration of this matter and action in the form of the following motion: Motion to accept the September 10, 2026, Study Session Summary regarding the 2027 Recommended Budget for City of Boulder.

Presentation Summary The purpose of the study session was to present the City Manager’s 2027 Recommended Budget, and to give City Council an opportunity to ask questions and provide comments. Staff presented financial considerations and assumptions for the 2027 fiscal year, including major revenue changes, the 2027 Recommended Budget overview, and future financial planning. Staff then asked council for its questions and comments. The study session began with a presentation provided by the Budget Office. The total 2027 Recommended Budget is $552.6 million across all funds, including a 2027

Operating Budget of $417.2 million and 2027 Capital Budget of $135.4 million. The 2027 Recommended Operating Budget represents a 2.35% increase over the 2026 Approved Operating Budget, which is the second slowest operating budget growth since the 2021 Budget. The 2027-32 Capital Improvement Program (CIP) includes a total planned spending amount of $827.7 million across the six-year capital planning horizon, to support a total of 228 capital projects. The 2027 Recommended Budget was developed against a projected $6.3 million shortfall in the General Fund, with other funds impacted from slowing economic growth, flattening of major revenues, and increasing costs of city services and programs. Key to the development of the 2027 Recommended Budget was preparing a balanced budget that supported core city services, community priorities, programs and goals consistent with community values, leveraged flexibility of resources across all funds, and positioned the city for improved long-term financial sustainability.

Questions for Council and Direction Received Council was asked two questions: 1. Do council members have questions on the 2027 Recommended Budget, including the Operating Budget and Capital Budget? 2. Does council recommend any substantive changes in advance of its first reading consideration of the 2027 Budget on Oct. 1, 2026, or questions on next steps?

For question #1, “Do council members have questions on the 2027 Recommended Budget, including the Operating Budget and Capital Budget?” staff heard and responded to the following questions: What is the procedure for requesting a change to the budget before first reading? Staff responded that it is helpful to know if there is majority interest among councilmembers in exploring a change and stated that there can be ongoing conversations between councilmembers and Budget staff between the Study Session and September 28 to develop potential amendments. Council members should post via Hotline any potential budget amendments. Any change to the recommended, balanced budget would require a specific offset, either reducing another expense or identifying additional revenue. Deputy City Attorney Roberto Ramirez confirmed the procedural interpretation shared by staff regarding the majority support for recommended changes.

What is the total cost of the Alpine Balsam project? How does it compare to the actual figure, COPs, and the bond? How can communication be improved? The city has provided updates throughout the course of the Alpine-Balsam project, which commenced 11 years ago. Budget associated with the Alpine-Balsam site has been reviewed and approved by City Council since project inception in 2015. The Alpine-Balsam project remains within budget and has never exceeded project budget; all budget appropriation associated with the Alpine-Balsam site has been approved by City Council since 2015. The Western-City Campus project webpage and Alpine-Balsam story map provides additional information on the lifespan of the project. Is building replacement reserve planning addressed in the 2027 Recommended Budget or will that be coming in the long-term financial plan? Within the proposed budget is the continuation of our 2% Current Replacement Value (CRV) policy implemented by Facilities & Fleet. The 2% CRV policy sets aside 2% of the current replacement value for buildings that are new or have received substantial renovations in recent years and are now considered in good condition. That funding will go towards future “on-cycle, like-for-like replacement” for building maintenance, such as roof repair or boiler replacement. It does not cover building replacements or building adaptations, but it does contribute toward extending the useful life of city buildings. The majority of our priority buildings are not contributing towards the 2% CRV yet, because they need substantial repairs and renovations to first get them into good condition. How are fixed-term position extensions determined and planned for? Certain fixed-term positions were extended in the 2027 budget based on the assessed criticality of the role or service. For positions that have end dates beyond 2027, we are not currently planning or budgeting for their extension; instead, departments will bring forward requests in future year budgets to extend the fixed-term position, convert the position to ongoing, or will decide not to extend. Those requests would then be evaluated within our budget development cycle with all other budget requests. What is expected for property taxes in this upcoming year, will there be further legislative changes? There are no legislative changes to assessment rates expected beyond the final reduction to commercial assessment rates for 2027 due to HB24B-1001. Staff anticipate a 5% increase per assessment cycle in the outer year projections. Can you explain the new framework separating core services from discretionary services? The city is developing a tiered service model aligned with outcomes-based budgeting to assist with prioritization of services. The framework uses tiers which are based on a bell

curve with most services falling in the middle tiers. This framework is not finalized, but a draft summary of tiers would be:

Tier

Tier Name

Tier Summary Statement

Tier 1

Critically Vital Services

Interruption creates immediate risk to public health and safety. Services cannot be paused.

Tier 2

Mandated Services – Federal/State

The city lacks discretion to stop, no authority to change: federal law or state law. Services must be provided.

Tier 3

Mandated Services – City

The city currently cannot change without formal vote: voter mandate, municipal code, resolution, or binding IGA. Services must be provided unless change occurs.

Tier 4

Strategic Priority Services

Discretionary, but directly delivers adopted citywide strategic priorities, serves the community broadly with measurable data to support. Services advance citywide strategic priorities.

Tier 5

Community Enrichment Services

Discretionary services that add to quality of life or serve specific needs without legal requirements or direct connection to strategic priorities. Services enrich the community’s quality of life.

The above framework is a working process to keep in mind during budget deliberations. This year, it was considered as a data point and in future years this framework will be more prominent, tied to work planning and be more ingrained in the budget process without judgment. The plan is to dig further into service levels that fall within program areas that the city is already budgeting against.

For Fund Our Future prioritization, why didn’t the city focus more clearly on the specific community priorities identified? Staff responded that Fund Our Future feedback was incorporated as a key pillar in 2027 Budget decision-making. Examples of prioritized investments include $11M for wildfire resilience, $28M additional funding for municipal infrastructure, enhanced snow & ice response through $38K of technology upgrades, outcomes-based support for restructuring the Police department’s photo enforcement van program, and a $5.3M increase to affordable housing programs. Why is Tom Watson pickleball work not in the 2027–2032 CIP? Phase I of the Tom Watson project adds dedicated pickleball to the park and a total of $2.3M in funding was appropriated in the 2026 ($400k) and 2025 ($1.9M) Approved Budgets. Phase II of the project is included in the 2027-2032 CIP, with $800,000 of funding in 2027. The P&DS fund balance appears high — why? The Planning & Development Services (P&DS) Fund is a special revenue fund whose sources are primarily driven by development-related fees collected by the P&DS Department. Another major source of P&DS Fund revenue is an annual General Fund transfer to cover general (non-development-related) services expended out of the fund. Examples of these general services include certain services within Building & Zoning Safety Compliance, Comprehensive Planning, and Historic Preservation. Over the last decade, the city has benefitted from strong development activity, leading to an increase in development-related fee collection. Development activity, however, is not a steady, linear process and can be unpredictable. Consistent with the principles of long-term fiscal planning, the city did not immediately increase staffing levels to concurrently respond to the development spike. This contributed to an increase in fund balance. Additionally, an analysis was completed of the General Fund transfer to the P&DS fund from 2025 to 2026. The outcome of this analysis found this transfer was higher than required for more than a decade, which further contributed to an accumulation of fund balance. This accumulated amount was depleted by a one-time reduction of the transfer in both 2025 and 2026. From 2027 onwards, the transfer has been reduced to the amount recommended by the analysis. City leadership and the Budget Office identified use of the P&DS Fund balance as a mechanism to improve service levels around development-related city services (e.g., permit review or inspection turnaround times). Based on an evaluation of

department needs and target performance measures, strategic investments have been made to draw down the P&DS Fund balance and improve community service offerings: •

In the 2026 Budget, enhancements included a new building inspector and investments for a new Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system.

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During 2026, additional out-of-cycle approvals were made for two ongoing building inspectors, an on-call building inspector, a building plans examiner, and a fixed-term department accounting coordinator.

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The 2027 Recommended Budget includes enhancements for a fixed-term rental licensing coordinator, conversion of the department accounting coordinator from fixed-term to ongoing, an ongoing permitting application administrator position, and CRM investments.

Department and city leadership will continue to review service levels, performance measures, and development trends to guide investment decisions using P&DS Fund balance, while adhering to the legal requirements for use of these funds. Can Silver Sneakers be changed to income-based? The Parks & Recreation Department work plan includes reviewing service delivery, such as older adult services and connections with programs like Silver Sneakers. This workplan item review will be done in partnership with Housing and Human Services staff to align on requirements for means-based vs. age-based subsidies. Can we realign Sugar Sweetened Beverage Tax to support the Spruce Pool and the Scott Carpenter facilities? Can other funding be realigned to keep Spruce Pool open? Funding flexibility throughout the city is limited due to 68% of city funding restricted or dedicated to specific purposes and tied to voter-approved intent. Sugar-Sweetened Beverage Tax spending must align with voter-approved intent and be used to support health equity outcomes. The 2027 Recommended Budget includes a realignment of $250K in ongoing funding from the Sugar-Sweetened Beverage Distribution Tax Fund to the Recreation Activity Fund to support parks’ existing recreation programs supporting health equity. Staff will continue to review Spruce Pool operations and funding needs throughout 2027 to determine within the 2028 Budget if an ongoing funding solution can be identified. Staff can also perform this review if directed by City Council. How do we add an external performance auditor to the 2027 budget? Staff reminded Council that they received a confidential memo outlining options and legal considerations, so limited non-confidential discussion can be had at this time. If

Council wants to consider the auditor options, staff can explore funding sources. The city does have an internal auditor position which works with controls, risks, financial, and operational performance. The city also recently implemented a webpage for the internal audit committee where community can submit audit ideas and suggestions. Additionally, Deputy City Manager Chris Meschuk provided a response to this question to City Council members through Hotline on September 15, 2026. What are the most critical repair needs and what would be the impact on these needs if the proposed bond measure does not pass the vote on November 4th? The proposed bond measure covers 15 priority buildings. Without approval of the bond measure, the city would require significant trade-offs for future funding. The current sixyear CIP only addresses urgent needs to keep these buildings functioning (e.g., electrical systems) but does not address modernization needs such as accessibility requirements or training standards for public safety functions. When asked whether trade-offs would mean potentially losing facilities like the South Boulder Recreation Center, staff acknowledged closures may occur if major repairs are needed. Previously, the pool at South Boulder Recreation Center was closed for half a year due to repairs. Importantly, staff shared the city’s intention to try to keep buildings open and maintain services where possible, but as more expensive repairs are needed, this may ultimately result in partial or full closures. In regards to fire stations, both the 2027 Capital Improvement Program (CIP) and the proposed bond language speak to funding. Why are some fire station items included in both? Critical repairs for fire stations are included in the 2027-32 CIP. The proposed bond language speaks to additional investments in fire stations 5 and 7 such as improvements to the quality of facility, including better kitchens and improved containment of carcinogenic equipment. Funding reflected in the 2027-32 CIP is not. There is concern about new Fire Station 3 being “too phenomenal.” How does the city ensure it stays within its means when investing in capital projects? Fire Station 3 design and construction was driven by code, safety standards, and the functional space required for safety operations at this fire station, including serving as the administrative office for the Fire-Rescue Department. Additionally, the interior of Fire Station 3 has basic concrete floors and limited finishes, and the building is sized for current and future needs. The prior city approach of converting houses into fire stations was a conservative decision but no longer meets current-day operational requirements.

What are the processes for changes to our budget priorities? How does Council navigate adjustments in budget as priorities change? The 2027 Recommended Budget aligns with Boulder Valley Comprehensive Plan, the Citywide Strategic Plan, Council priorities, Fund Our Future input, and revenue limitations. Any suggested adjustments to the budget should align with that as well. The city could explore a biennial (two-year) budget cycle, which would potentially allow more time for strategic planning with community and City Council. What happens to 2% CRV policy if the bond passes? The bond measure will not impact the 2% CRV policy. The CRV will continue to be applied to all buildings fitting the policy criteria. The Fund Our Future questionnaire consisted of 536 respondents. Is it statistically representative? No, this questionnaire is not statistically valid. For additional demographic information, council and the public can review the materials from the June 25th Special Meeting, where demographic information is provided as an attachment to the memo. This attachment has also been included within this summary memo. What are intersections between the Nature-Based Solutions and Circular Economy programs and wildfire response and mitigation? The work of the Nature-Based Solutions program includes nature-based wildfire mitigation (juniper removal, drought-resistant plantings, resilient landscape design) to reduce wildfire spread and protect water supply. Circular Economy work supports removal of combustible materials, wildfire & flood mitigation, local agriculture, and supply chain resilience.

For question #2, “Does council recommend any substantive changes in advance of its first reading consideration of the 2027 Budget on Oct. 1, 2026, or questions on next steps?”, staff heard and responded to the following questions: In regards to the Spruce Pool and the Day Services Center, what are options for keeping these programs budgeted and moving forward? Staff anticipated concerns about long-term funding for both programs and ongoing conversations are happening internally and with the community. For Spruce Pool, staff are exploring alternate funding sources, including looking at reprioritization within existing programming dollars.

The Day Services Center originally emerged without identified funding; sustainability planning is necessary for future years. Staff will continue to explore options to sustain ongoing operations and work with community partners. Currently, there is no identified ongoing funding for either of these two priorities. Can we examine adding budget from the Climate Tax Fund ($2M) and from the Open Space Fund ($4M or $5M) and looking at other cuts in the city while simultaneously pursuing additional grants for wildfire resilience (for an additional $2 or $3M)? Council members may propose amendments to the 2027 Recommended Budget between now and first budget reading on October 1. The process for proposed budget amendments are included as a response to the final council question in this study session summary. This specific proposed amendment would result in significant trade-offs in the existing department programs, with acute impacts to the Climate Initiatives Department and Open Space & Mountain Parks Department. City staff will provide a detailed overview of the wildfire resilience and response roadmap at the October 22, 2026, City Council Study Session. Previously, there was discussion of adding streets for additional snow and ice removal. If we want to add that to workplan, do we do that now? Does the budget include those streets, or does this enhancement address those streets? If I’m not convinced there is enough funding, what are the procedural next steps? The additional $38K investment in snow and ice response provides for two new enhanced technology systems: weather diagnostic tools to expand the city's Road Weather Information Systems (RWIS) network; and real-time, in-cab snowplow route navigation technology. The 2027 Budget does not include significant expansion of current levels of service or addition of streets to the program beyond spot locations for hand shoveling and limited streets whose usage has changed. Those streets previously established with the city's Storm-Size Response Framework (see this webpage for a graphic depiction of those service levels) largely remain the same as they were for the '25-26 season, partly because with the recent mild winter, staff recommend at least another year of evaluation before recommending any significant modifications to the existing framework. For further background, between 2023 and 2024, the city conducted an analysis of its Snow and Ice Response Program, which included community engagement, to understand community preferences and needs, assess industry service levels and consider changes to the program to better meet goals and expectations. The Snow and Ice Response Review Project was reviewed by the Transportation Advisory

Board (TAB) at multiple touchpoints throughout the project process in February, March, and November 2023, and staff updated TAB in both October 2024 and August 2025. Multiple information items on the Snow and Ice Response Program and its Storm-Size Response Framework were prepared and published for council, in December 2023, June 2024, and October 2024. And additionally, a new Information Packet will be delivered to Council soon that summarizes '25-26 and improvements to the program for the upcoming season. Also, as it relates to the question of the possibility of additional streets to consider, in early 2025, after a series of information requests via Hotline from members of council, staff clarified that the T&M director has the discretion to investigate community reports of locations with unusual weather conditions or emergent needs, such as on steep or shaded streets or icy intersections, and allocate resources on a case-by-case basis. Snow response will be prioritized first for urgent calls coming into dispatch from Boulder Police and Boulder Fire-Rescue. Less urgent safety hazards reported from the community that feasibly can be addressed and confirmed may be serviced after first responder's emergency and operational needs for that particular storm response. Why was the photo enforcement van program reduced? The photo enforcement van program was operated by the Boulder Police Department and consisted of stationary vehicles monitoring speed in neighborhoods. This program was examined through the lens of criticality, and it was determined that the costs of this program, such as maintenance, staff, and equipment, outpace revenue generation, while less costly methods such as targeted patrol and stationary speed cameras provide similar benefits. It was determined that speed enforcement and Vision Zero goals can be programmed into existing patrol capacity and police will continue responding to community complaints, continue to perform methods for traffic calming, and will adjust enforcement locations as necessary. Council would like to see more investments in wildfire. Were there missed grantfunding opportunities the city could have applied to? Boulder actively pursues wildfire grants and will continue to do so. The city currently has a total grant investment of over $2.1 million to advance wildfire resilience and response. Open Space & Mountain Parks Department also has a long history of applying for and receiving forest-treatment grants, benefitting wildfire resilience on open space lands. In some cases, eligibility requirements have limited the city’s ability to apply to certain grant opportunities. For example, the city was not eligible for earlier rounds of the Community Wildfire Defense Grant (CWDG) due to the lack of a qualifying Community Wildfire Protection Plan (CWPP). Following the 2024 CWPP update, staff are actively assessing fit and eligibility for Round 4 of CWDG in consultation with the Colorado State

Forest Service. While Boulder is expected to score well on the hazard component of the application, the grant has strongly prioritized low-income communities in the past, which may affect Boulder’s competitiveness. This opportunity also requires a significant match, which would need to be identified. The city has recently pursued other federal grant opportunities, such as FEMA Building Resilience Infrastructure & Communities (BRIC). For the latest fund round, the city submitted a $650,000 application for emergency siren enhancement; these sirens provide outdoor warning during wildfires. Staff will continue to consider BRIC in future rounds. Grant opportunities are tracked across the organization by the Grants Office, the Wildfire Resilience Team, and individual departments. Staff will continue to pursue funding opportunities where the city and proposed projects are eligible and competitive, recognizing that grant writing, compliance, reporting, and match tracking must all be balanced against other workplan priorities. Does the 2027 Recommended Budget support the enforcement of existing nuisance ordinances? There are staff within the Code Compliance division in P&DS to enforce the nuisance ordinance. Furthermore, the department is currently hiring to backfill the vacated Code Specialist I position, which supports this work. Once the position is filled, there will be more focus on improving tools, processes, and coordination with other departments, which will result in better enforcement. Nuisance enforcement is currently being conducted by utilizing the Chronic Nuisance Dashboard, an internal tool that pulls data from several city systems and identifies properties approaching the threshold for verified violations that would trigger a chronic nuisance case. Staff are reviewing this dashboard and other reports to determine enforcement and identify gaps. Lastly, city leadership will continue to gauge the need for additional Code Compliance resources. There is no allocation in the budget to do anything in support of the San Lazaro Community and nothing has been expressed from a policy perspective. How can we plan to fund this now? Through ATB? This neighborhood sits outside city jurisdiction and staff are in conversations with the residents and Boulder County. If the San Lazaro Community desires annexation, a significant analysis of cost and scope would be required. The timing of the effort suggests that it is unlikely that potential annexation and financial support would occur in 2027. Any decisions around this issue will be brought to council. Depending on timing, this may appear in ATB1 2027 as ATB2 is primarily for year-end reconciliation and emergency items.

Council is interested in a rigorous understanding of large-scale wildfire hardening and how the public sector can help support in multiplying public funds to help move this forward quickly. Staff will provide additional details as the wildfire resilience council priority project comes to council on October 22. In addition to the calls for additional wildfire mitigation and home hardening, it was noted that there is also an interest in additional investment for emergency evacuation, recovery, and relocation. How are energy cost projections integrated into the budget? Given the increase in rates locally and globally, what formula was used to inform energy cost projections? Energy cost projections are carefully considered for capital projects across departments, particularly for utilities capital projects. For general city utilities operational expenses, not related to specific capital projects, the city uses the short-term outlook projections provided by the Energy Information Administration (EIA). The EIA does not anticipate large increases in natural gas or electricity prices for 2027 compared to 2025 and 2026. Overall, an inflation factor of 3% annually is reflected across capital project costs in the six-year CIP, this assumes increases in energy costs. Facilities projects generally use a 3%-3.5% construction escalation factor on capital projects, which accounts for shortterm fluctuations in energy prices. The building projects themselves reflect a conversion of natural gas systems to mostly all electric systems. Conversion to all-electric systems allowing for renewable energy sources in the future is the biggest preventative measure against future rising natural gas costs. While upfront capital costs can be higher for this conversion, future operating costs would be lower and reflect the lowest total cost of ownership of building assets. It was noted that the Outreach Community Connectors program was not funded. How will staff get feedback and re-establish trust we have invested in over the past few years. The 2027 Budget includes a realignment of funds to help support and bolster the Community Connector program. This is a priority action within the current Citywide Strategic Plan and funding has increased over time. The Fund Our Future outreach had two intentional sessions with Community Connectors and residents as well as specific targeted conversations with specific populations both in person and online. The Community Connector model has three programs currently under its umbrella, Community Connectors in Residence (CC-in-R), Outreach Community Connectors

(OCC), and Project Community Connectors (PCC). OCC’s are currently funded though ARPA and is set to sunset at the end of 2026. CC-in-R is an ongoing program, established in December 2020. Finally, PCC programs are created on an as-needed basis through city departments and have a defined scope and timeline. In recent years, two to three PCC programs have been active each year. Departments sponsor these PCC positions and provide funding for stipends and activities. Examples of recent Project Community Connector work may be found here: https://bouldercolorado.gov/services/community-connectors-program Following the sunsetting of the Emergency Response Connector program in Dec 2024 (which was launched in March 2020 to support community members throughout the COVID-19 pandemic), staff determined a continuing need to maintain trust and relationship with local community leaders who belong to historically excluded communities. Therefore, with remaining one-time ARPA funding available and continued commitment, the Outreach Community Connector pilot program was implemented with a projected sunset date of December 2026 (based on availability of ARPA funds). The current OCC program focuses on three primary goals: 1. Assist in distributing outreach materials for city services and resources among networks of historically excluded communities and communities less connected to traditional city communications; 2. Provide constructive feedback on city outreach materials, messaging, and engagement processes to increase education and participation among historically excluded communities; and 3. Support the development of stronger networks to improve coordination around public events and programs. The 2027 Budget includes a realignment of funding within the Communications & Engagement Department for ongoing programming and staffing for the Community Connectors model to continue advancing inclusive engagement. What are the mechanisms for funding policy changes as they come up? City Council has the ability to perform budgetary changes in the annual budget, or through adjustments-to-base. The annual budget process provides the comprehensive package of the annual Operating and Capital Budget, and ability for potential council budget amendments during budget readings. Staff share forward the process for potential council budget amendments to the annual budget each year during the annual recommended budget presentation and council budget reading and adoption process.

For the 2027 Recommended Budget, the process for submitting council proposed budget amendments includes: 1. Council member submission of proposed budget amendments via Hotline by September 28th; 2. Proposed budget amendment submissions should include an identified funding source/offset and explanation of the proposed amendment, such as relevant priorities, proposed policy decisions, and/or service level impacts; 3. The Budget Office will review and coordinate all proposed council budget amendments into a standardized packet for the council budget readings and, if needed, work directly with Council Members before the first budget reading to clarify or add specificity to fiscal impact information that will be added to the packet; The Budget Office will share forward the standardized packet of proposed council budget amendments with Council Members before the October 1 first budget reading. Given the comprehensive nature of the annual budget review with City Council, amendments to the annual budget may be proposed prior to its adoption according to the above specified process. Citywide strategic planning and City Council top priorities and work planning guide budget resource allocation on an annual basis. While there are mechanisms to permit budget adjustments outside of the annual budget process, it is a best practice to use them sparingly and typically for minor adjustments without offsetting revenue. Major deviations from the approved annual budget can cause uncertainty for city staff and the public and can impact long-term strategic planning, Council priorities, and city programming and operations. The city performs at least two adjustments-to-base throughout the fiscal year. ATB1 is May/June and ATB2 in November/December. At times, special ATBs are also performed, such as the appropriation of the newly voter-approved Climate Tax and Community Culture, Resilience and Safety Tax revenues, and debt issuances for capital projects. Adjustments-to-base have historically been to perform amendments to the current fiscal year budget and have not been used for large ongoing budgetary changes. For example, ATB2 has been used for year-end reconciliation for the current fiscal year and typically involves small changes to the budget before it closes, such as appropriating mid-year grants and donations, appropriating expenses related to additional unbudgeted revenues, planned draws from fund balance, such as advancing fleet replacement, or small one-time draws from fund balance for mid-year emerging items.

Performing significant budget amendments in ATB2 for the 2026 budget, outside of emergencies or reconciliation items, is not advised as it impacts both the current year’s budget and future budgets. For example, the 2026 fiscal year informs the 2027 Budget and it is used as the basis for the development of the 2027 Budget. Major adjustments to one-time fund balances or ongoing funding commitments added through ATBs for 2026 would impact the upcoming fiscal year, fund health, and spending plans. Finally, an adjustment to the 2027 annual budget prior to the end of 2026 would be unusual and difficult to execute. Per City Charter Section 95, the annual budget must be adopted by December 1st of each year. Per state requirements, the city must certify property tax mill levies by December 15th. After that date, the mill levy is locked and any budget amendments could not assume more property tax revenue than the certified levy produces. Additionally, it would be a challenge to pass an amendment to the adopted 2027 annual budget before the end of the year given the city’s public notice, public hearing, and reading requirements for budget ordinances.

Next Steps for City Council Council members will share via Hotline any potential Council Budget Amendments by September 28. Budget amendments should have an identified offset to maintain a balanced budget. The Budget Office is available for questions and discussion on potential budget amendments, and available for any additional questions on the 2027 Recommended Budget. The first reading of the 2027 Recommended Budget will occur at the October 1 council meeting, and the second reading will occur on October 15.

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Attachments A – 2026 Fund Our Future Engagement Results