Northglenn council hears 2026 budget proposal as leaders flag flat sales tax and $56 million wastewater upgrade

Deputy City Manager Jason Loveland presented the City of Northglenn’s proposed 2026 operating and capital budget at the Sept. 8 council meeting, telling council the total recommended expenditures across all funds are nearly $106 million and the general fund budget is about $39.9 million.

Loveland said the city is projecting modest revenue, with sales-and-use tax forecast down roughly 2% from earlier projections and the 2026 budget assuming no growth in sales tax. “The total revenue forecast is down, about 2% from what we had projected for the budget at the start of the year,” Loveland said. He noted an ending general-fund balance projection of about $14.5 million for 2026 and a forecasted decline in fund balance in 2025 driven in part by weaker revenues.

The presentation flagged two large capital efforts. Loveland described a multiyear wastewater plant upgrade with an overall planned scope of about $56 million, and said design and initial work are included in the 2026 budget: “In total, we’ll get there. It’s a $56,000,000 project that we’re expecting to have a couple of different debt issuances on. One in 2026, then I believe again in 2029, to fund the upgrades required at the wastewater plant.” He added the budget assumes issuing revenue bonds and a one-time transfer to ease near-term debt service needs.

On water projects, Director Borgers (presenting informally during Q&A) described the aquifer storage and recovery (ASR) pilot and the next phase: “Phase 1 is complete. Phase 1 was essentially us digging the hole in the ground… Phase 2 is what’s coming up next, which is what the 3 and a half million you saw is to get through the phase 2, which is actually outfitting it, putting, like, a building and equipment on the site.” That $3.5 million figure appears in the proposed capital plan for 2026.

Council members pressed for detail on how fund transfers and reduced dedicated sales-tax allocations will affect water and wastewater funds. Council Member Kondo asked whether the shift of a half-percent sales tax from the water fund to the general fund would require future interfund transfers; Loveland said current forecasts show the funds covered by user charges and the reduced tax allocation but that staff will continue to monitor forecasts. Council Member Condo asked whether the $9.7 million wastewater capital outlay in 2026 represented the start of the larger upgrade; Loveland confirmed it is the beginning of the design phase for the larger program.

Loveland reviewed other highlights: a projected $13.9% increase in assessed property valuation driven by oil-and-gas activity in Weld County that could yield roughly $480,000 to the general fund and about $220,000 to the capital projects fund (not yet reflected in the materials and to be updated Sept. 22), a proposed 2% water rate increase and a 5.25% wastewater rate increase included in the draft budget, and a list of hiring holds and one-time capital projects intended to preserve fund balance amid revenue uncertainty.

Loveland said staff will bring back a formal public hearing on the budget on Sept. 22 and continue to refine revenue forecasts as more months of data arrive. The council did not take a final vote on the budget at the Sept. 8 meeting; Loveland and staff sought direction and answered follow-up questions from council.