City Budget

Denver City and County Budget Fiscal Year 2025

Budgets are about turning values into action. That’s why Denver’s proposed 2025 budget is centered around building a more vibrant, more affordable, and safer Denver for all. It makes critical investments in every neighborhood while bolstering economic opportunity and quality of life citywide. It expands public safety, supports our commitment to a cleaner climate, provides more opportunity for Denver youth, and activates and enlivens our downtown.

This budget balances investments for long-term growth with a smart stewardship of our fiscal health. In 2025, the city budget will grow just 0.6%, the slowest rate of growth in 14 years, and we will not increase personnel in the General Fund for the first time in over a decade, aside from the pandemic. This budget outlines our spending priorities for 2025 and is a down payment on the brighter, more vibrant future we are building for every Denverite.

Read the Proposed 2025 Budget(PDF, 19MB)

What is the Budget?

The budget provides detailed information about the City and County of Denver's estimated revenues and expenditures (spending) for the next year and serves as a work plan for the city and its departments, including a framework for setting priorities, strategic initiatives, and performance. The city's operating budget is known as the General Fund. These are some of its highlights and citywide priorities:

View Budget Highlights(PDF, 346KB)

Responsive Color Bars
VIBRANT DENVER
SAFE DENVER
AFFORDABLE DENVER
GREAT GOVERNMENT

2025 General Fund Revenue Expected to Grow by 1.1%

While revenue has continued to grow, the rate of natural growth is expected to slow to 1.1%. 2025 revenue is expected to be $1.69 billion.

General Fund Revenue Growth Rates Year Over Year

General Fund revenue grew 2.7% in 2018 from the previous year, 4.6% in 2019, then dropped 9.4% in 2020. Recovery in 2021 was a 12.1% increase from 2020, with a 9.3% increase in 2022 and a 4.3% increase in 2023. In 2024, growth from the previous year was 2.3% and is expected to grow only 1% in 2025.


2025 General Fund Expenditures to Grow by 0.6%

In 2025, expenditures in the city’s proposed operating budget would only increase by 0.6% from 2024, to $1.76 billion. This represents the lowest growth rate since 2011, aside from the pandemic.

This pie chart displays 15 city agencies and their estimated percentage of the proposed 2025 budget. Approximately one third is for Public Safety including fire, police and sheriff. 9% goes to independent agencies, 8% to transportation and infrastructure, 7% to finance, 6% to technology, 5% to public health, 5% to parks and recreation, 4% to general services, 4% to general administration, 4% to transfers, 4% to housing stability, 3% to cultural, 2% to community planning, 2% reserves and 1% economic development.

2025 General Fund Staffing

After more than a decade of significant personnel growth within the city, full-time equivalents (FTEs) in the General Fund will decrease for the first time since 2012 (aside from the pandemic). While this decrease is partly due to restructuring how some positions are funded, most of the decrease comes from un‐budgeting vacant positions.

Accessible FTE Positions Bar Chart

Budgeted Full-time Equivalent (FTE) Positions in the General Fund

The number of full-time employees per year: 7,605 in 2011, 7,535 in 2012, 7,557 in 2013, 7,868 in 2014, 8,274 in 2015, 8,726 in 2016, 9,069 in 2017, 9,403 in 2018, 9,682 in 2019, 9,881 in 2020, falling to 9,081 in 2021 budgeted during the pandemic, rising to 9,632 in 2022, 9,882 in 2023 and 2024, and projected to drop slightly to 9,738 in 2025.

Sales and Property Tax Revenue

Sales and use tax is approximately 55% of the city’s operating revenue. Property tax is approximately 11%. Licenses, permits, and fees add another 9%. The full list of revenue sources can be found on page 88 of the budget. 

Sales and Property Tax Revenues

Sales and Property Tax Revenues

2018 - Property Tax: $129,299,474, Sales Tax: $690,867,806
2019 - Property Tax: $131,257,333, Sales Tax: $720,421,281
2020 - Property Tax: $152,553,692, Sales Tax: $638,796,372
2021 - Property Tax: $164,428,628, Sales Tax: $802,271,492
2022 - Property Tax: $170,613,358, Sales Tax: $887,227,564
2023 - Property Tax: $173,629,543, Sales Tax: $921,997,105
2024 - Property Tax: $186,275,236, Sales Tax: $937,090,823
2025 Orig - Property Tax: $189,308,668, Sales Tax: $951,150,897

Learn More About the Budget

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