Wheat Ridge council adopts $95.6M 2025 budget, establishes 2J bond fund

Wheat Ridge, Colo. — The Wheat Ridge City Council on Nov. 25 unanimously approved the city’s 2025 budget and related amendments, adopting Resolution 48‑2024 after a public hearing.

City staff told the council the total appropriation across all funds is about $95.6 million for 2025, with roughly $39–$39.4 million earmarked for capital projects spread across the capital improvement program, Renewal Wheat Ridge bond projects and the new 2J fund. The proposed general fund for 2025 is $48.7 million, and staff said the budget is structured to meet the council’s minimum unrestricted fund-balance policy of 17 percent.

Staff said the budget is driven largely by capital spending and several ongoing initiatives — from homelessness response and affordable housing work to transportation and sustainability efforts — and noted that sales and use tax remains the city’s primary revenue source. Presenters emphasized conservative revenue assumptions, calling for modest growth in 2025 after stronger sales-tax performance in the past year.

Councilors pressed staff with questions about revenue composition and carryovers. Staff said online sales (including Amazon) are a material source of revenue and agreed to provide a percentage breakdown by source after the meeting; they also explained that multi-year capital encumbrances and delayed vehicle deliveries drove higher carryovers from prior years and are reappropriated into future budgets rather than spent twice.

As part of the resolution the council also authorized establishing the 2J fund in 2024 so the city can proceed with debt issuance costs and reimburse the CIP for prior emergency stormwater repairs. Staff confirmed approximately $1.725 million is planned for storm-sewer repairs and related proactive maintenance in 2025, and that a portion of earlier emergency work would be reimbursed in 2024 per prior council authorization.

Council discussion emphasized protecting the Wheatridge Housing Fund’s long-term purpose; staff recommended, and council supported, pausing transfers of short‑term rental/lodgers‑tax revenue to the housing fund for 2024–25 with the intent to restore those transfers in 2026 subject to guardrails to preserve the fund’s affordable-housing mission.

The council voted without opposition (clerk: “all ayes, no nays”), formally adopting the budget and related measures. The public hearing record showed no public speakers signed up for the item.

Next steps: staff will implement the adopted budget, return with project-specific recommendations and any necessary budget amendments, and provide the supplemental details council requested on revenue sources.