Budget

Boulder needs a budget it can count on, one that delivers great results for great value. That means spending that reflects what our community values, transparency that gives our community confidence, and steadiness that gives our community a sense of predictability. That's what it will take to meet the challenges ahead, with sales tax revenue flattening, pandemic-era federal funds running out, and climate-related costs increasing. And it's necessary to vet big decisions, like what to do about the backlog of more than $500 million in deferred maintenance across 75 public buildings, rec centers, firehouses, and the police station among them.

What I'm Working On

I've focused on making sure Boulder's budget delivers value for residents, at both the smallest transaction and the biggest commitment.

Outcomes and services orientation. Every dollar this budget spends is fundamentally for services, the truest expression of what a budget is, and residents shouldn't have to fight city hall to get a straightforward answer to a permit question or a pothole report. Championed Boulder's shift toward outcome-based budgeting, connecting department spending directly to outcomes, and helped create a streamlined review category that cuts red tape and speeds up permits. Backed the CARE program as a clear example of getting more value for the same dollar, since a behavioral health response costs less and works better than sending police to calls they're not suited for, and supported using AI deliberately to make services faster, including logging pavement problems and routing customer requests, evaluated with the same rigor as anything else. What's still needed: a cross-departmental customer service hub with a single point of entry, so residents get help without bouncing between offices, and service judged by what residents experience firsthand.

Good big-picture decision-making. Building a long-term dashboard for financial health indicators, so there's a systematic way to check whether the budget is moving Boulder in the right direction, toward a stronger, more diversified revenue base consistent with Blue Ribbon Commission recommendations. That includes gradually rebalancing revenue away from heavy sales tax reliance toward a greater share of property tax, revenue-neutral for cost-sensitive households, with guardrails like relief for seniors and lower-income homeowners built in from the start, and pushing to repeal TABOR so Colorado communities can invest in what residents need. It means holding major commitments, like airport obligations, a downtown development authority, or metropolitan district financing, to high standards, evaluated for long-term impact with a clear line of sight before proceedings get too far along. And it means timing and sequencing that gives council a meaningful way to shape the biggest decisions at the key junctures, an organized, deliberate process for considering new directions that includes learning from what's worked and hasn't, methodical culling of what no longer serves the city well, and weighing choices against each other for their co-benefits, favoring investments that deliver multiple benefits at once.

Controls for accountability, transparency, and learning. Council-level controls, including performance audits, check whether the strategies guiding Boulder's money are being followed, so there's a clear answer to how the city is doing over time. Serves on the city's Long-Term Financial Strategies Committee, working from Blue Ribbon Commission recommendations, and helped Boulder stay relatively stable through the economic softening of 2025-26 that forced deep cuts elsewhere. Transparency residents can use means tracing spending directly to outcomes, understanding what's driving cost increases, seeing key trends and risks over time, and comparing Boulder's numbers with peer communities. What's still needed: performance auditing at the council level, focused on how well these standards and controls are being delivered.

What's Next

I'm working to:

☐ Evaluate major long-term commitments, like airport obligations, a downtown development authority, or metropolitan district financing, for their full financial impact before Boulder commits

☐ Gradually rebalance revenue away from heavy sales tax reliance toward a greater share of property tax, with guardrails like relief for seniors and lower-income homeowners. The exact ratio, timeline, and equity protections are still being worked out

☐ Push to repeal TABOR so Colorado communities can invest in what residents need

☐ Convene a dialogue with council to update expectations for how members engage with the budget

☐ Create education and onboarding for council members on municipal finance fundamentals

☐ Make budget documents genuinely readable for residents

What We Stand to Gain

Cut the costs of living. A revenue mix rebalanced toward property tax, done with guardrails, protects cost-sensitive households rather than burdening them, and durable funding for things like pavement means residents aren't hit later with bigger, deferred costs.

Adapting to a changing world. A budget built to see major costs years in advance, not react to them in a crisis, is exactly what financial adaptation looks like as revenue sources shift and climate-related costs grow.

Creating a trustworthy, effective government. Holding every dollar to a clear evaluation standard, and giving voters an honest, public choice on deferred maintenance instead of letting it grow quietly, is what earns trust in how the city handles money.

Climate-aligned decisions. Making sure climate, resilience, and sustainability impacts are a standard part of every budget decision means the true long-term cost, not just the sticker price, is visible before Boulder commits.