Commerce City’s preliminary 2027 budget lists $2.08 million in spending packages as forecast projects future deficits

Commerce City’s preliminary 2027 budget materials list $2.079 million in decision packages, while the city’s long-term financial plan projects annual operating deficits beginning in 2031 and no unrestricted fund balance beginning in 2035 if current policies remain unchanged.

The Aug. 10 budget materials list $2.004 million in General Fund packages and $75,087 in restricted 2K funds. The largest packages include $693,832 for a police hiring strategy, $600,000 for the second year of cloud migration and disaster recovery, $258,500 for community programs and services, and $189,600 for Public Works initiatives. The list also includes $137,045 for Parks, Recreation and Golf positions, $70,000 for legal research and litigation software, and $50,000 for broadband planning.

The presentation labels the packages “approved,” but it describes the session as informational and does not record a motion, vote, ordinance or other formal City Council action. The packages were part of the developing preliminary budget and remained subject to the rest of the budget process.

A separate fund-balance calculation in the materials projects $131.5 million in General Fund revenue against $137.1 million in expenses after including the listed packages — a $5.6 million decline — and about $43.75 million in remaining unassigned General Fund balance. Those figures are from a separate calculation and should not be treated as the total size of the proposed budget.

The city’s May 11 long-term financial-plan materials describe a draft, no-policy-change baseline. The model assumes average annual revenue growth of 4.6% and expenditure growth of 6.8%. Under that scenario, expenditures begin exceeding revenues in 2031, identified as Year 5, and unrestricted fund balance reaches zero beginning in 2035, or Year 9.

The forecast relies heavily on sales and use taxes, which the materials say account for more than 70% of General Fund revenue and more than 90% of tax revenue. The model also assumes no policy changes, no new debt issuance for projected Level 2 capital needs and no additional General Fund transfers after 2026. The materials say a deficit could begin as early as 2029 under constrained tax growth or be delayed until 2035 under high growth.

The presentation identifies possible responses, including retaining excess property-tax revenue under the Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights, establishing a residential waste-refuse fee and considering broader tax changes. It estimates those highlighted measures could generate roughly $4.5 million to $5 million annually, but the records do not establish that any had been adopted.

The preliminary budget was scheduled for further review, including a City Council workshop on Sept. 14, a public hearing opening Oct. 19 and hearing close and budget adoption Nov. 2. The available records do not establish the final decision packages, budget amount or fund-balance projections.