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Issue #5 — September 23, 2026
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Five Years, One Pattern
Boulder's spending has outpaced inflation nearly three to one.
This Engage Boulder Newsletter reflects the personal opinions of Dan Caruso, written with the support of the Caruso Ventures team.
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Aaron Brockett, running for reelection as mayor, and the incumbent City Council members asking Boulder to send them back for another term, are the same people asking you to approve $400 million in new City spending this November.
Over the past four issues, we've covered a lot of ground. Boulder's population hasn't grown in a decade. A quarter of its office space sits empty while its classrooms empty out. Its revenue is falling behind inflation. Housing is increasingly unaffordable as the City's regulation and fees stymie supply.
And we revisited a decision from a decade ago: to spend over $300 million of taxpayer money on a headquarters complex, on land that could instead have been designed as a neighborhood. The 250 to 350 households that could have gone on the Alpine-Balsam site instead would have added tax revenue, retail spending for small businesses, and children to fill Boulder's classrooms.
This issue covers the rapid growth in the City's spending over the past five years. We are getting less for more.
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The Real Number: 52 Percent
From 2021 to 2025, Boulder's operating budget grew from $272.3 million to $399.3 million — up 47 percent as reported. But the department Boulder gave away in 2024, its library, was still on the books in 2021. Strip it out of both years and compare the City's own operations like for like, and the real growth is bigger: 52 percent in five years.
Inflation over the same five years: 19 percent. Denver-area consumer prices rose from an index of 281.8 to 335.1. Boulder's own spending grew nearly three times as fast.
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2021 to 2025 — library-adjusted, like for like
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▲ City spending
+52%
Operating budget, library stripped from both years
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Inflation
+19%
Denver-area consumer prices, 281.8 → 335.1
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Staffing tells the same story. Non-library City staffing — stripping the library's headcount out of 2021 the same way — rose from 1,307 to 1,539 full-time positions: almost 18 percent, in a city whose population did not grow at all.
The City's discretionary money moved the same direction. The General Fund, the roughly one-third of the budget not already dedicated by voters to a named purpose, grew from $146.3 million to $210.9 million — up 44 percent.
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Where the Growth Went
The category breakdown (audited actuals, 2021–2024 — 2025 actuals aren't published yet) shows this wasn't broad, even growth. A few categories ran hot:
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▲ Fastest-growing categories, 2021–2024
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Public Works
$48.8M → $83.6M
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+71% |
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Housing & Human Services
$25.1M → $42.2M
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+68% |
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Planning & Development Services
$16.6M → $26.4M
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+59% |
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General Government
$21.9M → $33.5M
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+54% |
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Revenue is growing slower than inflation. Non-student population is in decline. Office vacancy keeps getting worse. But the City keeps spending, and keeps asking for more money — not to attract more businesses, not to bring families back to Boulder, not to rebuild the tax base.
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Time for a Fresh Start?
Five years of spending growth outpacing inflation nearly three to one. Staffing up almost 18 percent while population didn't grow at all. Families keep leaving, and Boulder's classrooms keep emptying. Vacancy worsens. And now, the same people who oversaw all of it are asking to be reelected and seeking $400 million more.
Boulder elects a mayor and five City Council members this November — six of the nine seats on council. Five of those running already hold office. Ask yourself: should the people who grew spending 52 percent in five years get another term to keep doing it?
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I personally believe we need a fresh start.
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