Denver Begins Budget Planning for 2027

Denver Begins Budget Planning for 2027

Published on April 28, 2026

Denver - The City and County of Denver today announces the start of its 2027 budget planning. This is a process that occurs annually from May 1 through September 15, when the first draft of a proposed 2027 city budget will be released. Once a draft budget is released in September, Denver City Council will have an opportunity to amend and refine the budget before its adoption on November 9.

"It is a testament to the hard work, creativity, and sacrifice of Denver employees that we are in a much better place today than we were a year ago, and I am especially proud that we were able to strengthen our city's reserves and that our credit rating remains impeccable," said Mayor Mike Johnston. "We are only at the beginning of this process, and I look forward to working with our financial experts, agencies, and City Council to ensure we deliver a budget that is balanced and delivers on the core priorities of our city."

"We are in a strong financial position as we head into 2027. For the past few years, we've seen stable city revenue in Denver, which our economists and revenue specialists have done an excellent job forecasting. We expect this trend of flat revenue to continue into 2027, which means we will need to continue to be strategic and conservative in how we manage increasing costs," said the city's chief financial officer, Nicole Doheny.

For the year ended December 31, 2025, the city reported $1.664 billion in revenue to its General Fund, which was within 0.1% of the revenue forecast. The city also made major changes in 2025, which included a temporary hiring freeze, two to seven furlough days, and a reduction in force. These changes reduced city expenses to $1.707 billion in 2025 and $1.663 billion in 2026 and were critical to ensuring Denver remains financially sustainable and prepared for 2027. The city anticipates 2027 revenue to remain around the $1.66 billion mark. City reserves were initially projected to end 2025 at $179 million or about 10.3% of expenditures. The city exceeded expectations, with reserves at $197 million or 11.5% of expenditures, and continues to build reserves to a target of 15%.

In February 2026, all three U.S. credit ratings agencies (Moody's, S&P, and Fitch) affirmed the city's strong bond ratings, specifically noting the city's strong financial governance:

• Moody's: "The [Aaa] rating also incorporates the city's strong governance and well-managed financial operations that yield strong available fund balances and liquidity levels which averaged nearly 50% of annual operating revenues the last five years."
• Standard & Poor's (S&P): "The city's financial management policies and practices are above average, in our view, as indicated by robust oversight and reporting and conservative budget assumptions, along with a demonstrated track record of planning for nonrecurring costs and budgeting for contingencies."
• Fitch: "Demonstrated actions taken during prior downturns indicate an ability and willingness by management to meaningfully adjust spending levels when necessary."

Denver's fiscal year is January 1 - December 31.

Review previous Denver city budgets at https://www.denvergov.org/budget.

About Denver's Department of Finance

Committed to being the best financially managed city and county in the nation, the Department of Finance (DOF) unifies the financial and accounting functions of the City and County of Denver and provides residents easy access to key financial data through Transparent Denver. DOF is divided into the Office of the CFO and seven divisions, including the Assessor's Office, Controller's Office, Budget and Management Office, Capital Management and Financing, Real Estate, Risk Management and Worker's Compensation, and Treasury. For more information, visit Denvergov.org/finance.

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