Englewood council approves $2.68 million supplemental budget for technology, stormwater

Englewood City Council unanimously approved a $2,680,101 supplemental appropriation for 2026 on Nov. 2, including $148,000 for unexpected information technology costs and $2,532,101 for stormwater projects, at its regular meeting.

The city’s supplemental funding schedule classifies the measure as an additional appropriation, funded by the General Fund’s unassigned fund balance and the Stormwater Drainage Fund’s net position. The technology allocation includes $53,000 for late invoices from GovOS, which provides tax registration and collection services; $35,000 for doubled virtual-server maintenance and support costs; and $60,000 for higher firewall and network-equipment maintenance costs.

The information technology director told council that the city had budgeted for GovOS in 2025, then returned the unused money to fund balance after the vendor said in January that no payment was owed. The vendor later billed the city for services dating to April 2025. The director attributed the delay to a system migration that caused the vendor to lose track of the amounts owed. He said the $60,000 increase reflected inflation and additional equipment installed the previous year that had not been included in the budget. Staff said the city is moving to a less expensive virtual-server solution but still owes 2026 maintenance costs.

The stormwater allocation includes $1,188,756 for Phase 2 of the Old Hampden Utilities Improvements, which will extend a stormwater trunk line from Grant to Lincoln, and $1,343,345 for the stormwater fund’s share of improvements at the Service Center and Allen Water Treatment Plant. The utilities director said the building costs were apportioned according to the staffing resources using the facilities. He described the appropriation as an update for projects that lacked available fund balance when the prior-year budget was prepared; the Old Hampden project had already received council approval earlier in 2026. He also said an $8 million reimbursement received earlier this year made additional stormwater capital work possible.

Mayor Pro Tem questioned whether stormwater fees collected through water bills should help pay for city buildings, saying residents might expect the fees to fund pipes and the distribution system. Staff said the allocation reflected stormwater’s share of employees working in the buildings. The council approved the appropriation unanimously.