Broomfield staff preview 2026 budget: officials warn of 6–8M drop in property tax base, endorse conservative spending and infrastructure focus

City and County of Broomfield finance and executive staff presented an economic and fiscal update to council that frames the draft 2026 budget around slower growth, structural revenue changes and a shift toward careful, data-driven spending.

Finance staff led by Jeff Romine and Finance Director Graham Clark told the council the metro-area economy has entered a slow-growth, higher-inflation period often described as stagflation, and that several factors — state property assessment changes and slowing market fundamentals — combine to reduce the city’s property-tax base. Romine said staff conservatively projects a 6–8 million dollar annual decline in property-tax revenue attributable to a mix of lower assessed values and an assessment-rate reduction enacted in recent state legislation.

Why it matters: Broomfield relies heavily on property taxes and sales taxes to fund core services. Council members were told the revenue change alters the city’s long-range financial assumptions and raises trade-offs between maintaining current service levels and prioritizing capital investments.

Key budget elements and timing: Clark outlined a revamped, month-by-month budgeting process that included a comprehensive review of line-item spending across departments. Staff reported no available funding for new programs in 2026 while trying to preserve existing service levels; police and public works budgets will remain prioritized after several years of staffing increases to meet growth. The city plans to move forward with a multi-year enterprise rate plan for water and wastewater that includes user-rate increases previously announced in the 2025 budget cycle; the 2025 plan’s second-year increases translate to an average single-family utility bill rise of about $16.89 per month under the five-year plan and a smaller per-unit increase for apartments.

Enterprise funds and assistance: staff recommended the city retain the Utility Rate Assistance Fund (URAF) but tighten eligibility to 60% area median income (AMI) from 100% AMI and consider moving disbursement to an annual payout to improve administrative efficiency. Several council members and public commenters asked staff to reassess the payout cadence, noting low-income households may not be able to wait months in the event of financial hardship.

ERP, capital and bonds: staff told council the city selected a new enterprise resource planning (ERP) system in July and will begin implementation in late 2025 to improve financial transparency and budgeting. Clark said the 2026 capital program will defer some noncritical projects while continuing repair and rehabilitation of core infrastructure. The city will issue three bond series over the next six months to finance planned projects: general-fund debt for a police/court facility remodeling, water-tank funding and phase-one wastewater expansion. The administration emphasized Broomfield’s strong credit position — a debt-service metric at about 4.2% of revenues and high ratings from agencies — and said the planned schedule takes advantage of defeasance of previously issued certificates of participation.

Economy and tax trends: Romine reported sales-tax receipts are roughly 2% above 2024 through recent months, and he attributed sales-tax resiliency in part to retail and entertainment activity such as re-investment at regional shopping centers. He cautioned, however, that producer-price indexes are outpacing consumer-price indexes, which suggests ongoing upward pressure on construction and operating costs.

Next steps and public outreach: staff said the proposed 2026 budget will be distributed in early September and that department heads will brief council in two study sessions later that month. Communications will include a brief explainer video, bill inserts and a web-based bill estimator for utility customers. Council members asked for additional briefings on potential service-level trade-offs, ERP rollout benefits and the URAF eligibility/distribution timing before first reading of the budget in October.