Staff outlines 2026 budget timeline; commission flags mill‑levy, activation and capital needs for Boulder Junction

City staff presented a high‑level schedule and preliminary financial analysis for the 2026 budget for the Boulder Junction parking and TDM districts at the May 21 joint commission meeting.

"May 23 is our next internal deadline," Elliot (staff) told commissioners, and he walked through the key dates: June 27 for incorporating suggested changes; July commission meetings to review final submissions and request a recommendation to city council; a city budget study session targeted for Sept. 11; first council reading of appropriation ordinances on Oct. 9; and final appropriation by council on Oct. 23, with budgets effective Nov. 1.

Elliot explained a primary reason parking revenues appeared to overperform in the 2024 numbers was timing of payments from owners' associations: "we actually receive our revenue from the condo owners association...the timing of those payments was a little off for 2023, and they spilled into 2024." He told commissioners the reported $210,000 in parking revenue included receipts from prior periods and that the true 2024 gain, on a strictly within‑year basis, was smaller.

Staff framed three budget choices for commissioners: maintain status quo funding and focus spending on activation and wayfinding, allocate capital for parking assets (for example, digital signage or kiosk replacement in coming years), or consider a mill‑levy reduction. Elliot described a hypothetical: "If we were to say hypothetically cut [the parking mill levy] down to 5 mills, we would look at basically a 50% reduction in the parking portion of the revenue," and said the commission would need to weigh that revenue change against ongoing and planned expenditures.

Commissioners asked staff to model the operating impacts of any mill‑levy change and to map proposed capital expenditures (digital signage, wayfinding, and activation programming) to projected revenues and fund balance. Several commissioners emphasized that activation and marketing to attract customers to underused retail should be prioritized alongside any parking infrastructure spending.

Staff also said the district will fund portions of ongoing district analysis and the commercial areas blueprint work, and that TDM and parking may contribute to shared studies that inform possible governance changes or capital planning.

Ending: Staff will return in July with more detailed draft budget materials, including modeled impacts of any mill‑levy adjustments and cost estimates for proposed parking and activation projects.