Boulder City Council gives first nod to $515.4 million spending plan

Oct. 9—Boulder City Council approved on first reading its 2023 budget, a $515.4 million spending plan that prioritizes infrastructure projects, homelessness efforts and wildfire mitigation.

Highlights include some $2 million for wildfire resilience and emergency response, about $1 million for case management and homelessness solutions, and almost $1.3 million to continue Boulder's public space management pilot program.

After minor adjustments during Thursday's Boulder City Council meeting, the budget increased slightly from the city's original $513.5 million recommendation.

Such changes, discussed in the meeting on Thursday, include $1.5 million for increased construction costs associated with the new Boulder Fire-Rescue Station 3 and $80,000 for trash management strategies.

Housing, homelessness and general safety were the central focus of Thursday's budget discussion, both in council conversations and during the public hearing. Several Boulder residents shared that they no longer feel safe biking along the Boulder Creek Path or spending time in many of Boulder's public parks.

Concerns about crime and Boulder's unhoused residents contributed to Joshua Pollack, owner of Rosenberg's Bagels and Sherry's Soda Shoppe, making the decision to close his two Boulder establishments. There was a shooting on the Hill in the early morning hours of Oct. 2 that resulted in multiple arrests and one person being shot by Boulder Police officers.

"There's vagrant communities and crime on the Hill that make it an unattractive place for people to travel to," he said Thursday.

Almost every public commenter mentioned safety concerns in some form, urging the city to take action.

Boulder Police Chief Maris Herold acknowledged that community members' concerns are valid but also noted the problem is largely because of staffing constraints. The police department is down 29 officers, though it has the budget to pay for them.

Fundamentally, Boulder is facing a sanitation problem, Mayor Aaron Brockett noted.

"We have really significant problems. It's not just trash. ... We're talking about loose needles sometimes, waste — some things that do cause public health issues," he said.

"No, it is not ending homelessness. That is an enormous issue that we're trying to tackle in any number of ways, including new initiatives in this budget," Brockett added.

For this reason, Brockett and most others supported the $1.3 million that will be allocated toward continuing Boulder's public space management pilot program. This effort adds an in-house encampment clearing team, downtown ambassadors, urban park rangers and more.

"I have no illusions that the additional funds for cleanup are going to get at any of the root causes of homelessness. That would be a silly thing to say," Councilmember Mark Wallach said. "But it's doing something. It's trying to make the community a little cleaner, a little safer."

However, the money being earmarked for encampment cleanups was the main reason Councilmember Nicole Speer said she could not support the budget in its entirety.

"What I'm opposed to is giving more money with some clear outcomes that tie into our homelessness strategy when we have limited budgets and a crisis like homelessness that we've heard is having such big impacts in our community," she said.

She argued there should be specific metrics that indicate how the city is measuring its success in this regard. A recent report, for example, demonstrated that the program has thus far been successful in its mission to clean up Boulder's public spaces but has not positively impacted the number of encampments or people experiencing homelessness.

Although the city is preparing to approve a budget that exceeds half a billion dollars, Boulder continues to have underfunded and unfunded needs such as ongoing expenses associated with operating a day services center for people experiencing homelessness, recreation services and continued investments in city staff.

As such, Boulder is considering potential strategic funding opportunities to take advantage of moving forward, including the new climate tax and reallocation of the library budget — should the tax and the library district measure prove successful in the November election.

This year's budget is successful, however, in that it allocates 20% toward its emergency reserves, a goal set forth by former City Manager Jane Brautigam. Chief Financial Officer Kara Skinner noted in an earlier study session that the pandemic and recent natural disasters, such as the 2021 Marshall Fire, highlighted the importance of having a healthy savings.

Although the City Council approved the budget on first reading, this is not the end of the road for the city's spending plan. It will be considered on second reading during the Oct. 20 meeting. Access the budget online is at bit.ly/3wJ7X2C.