It’s leaf peeping season, pumpkin spice season, and, you got it—budget season!
Things are moving quickly. Read on for an overview of the budget process and what we’re tuned into. Or go ahead and send Mayor Johnston an email asking him to include more funding for traffic safety in his 2024 budget.
What do you mean, “budget season”?
Every fall, approving the Mayor’s budget for the following year is kind of like a game of ping pong between the Mayor and City Council. The good folks at Denverite have created a full breakdown of the process and we’ve pulled out the highlights below.
- September 14: Mayor Johnston’s proposed 2024 budget was released
- September 19: The Department of Transportation & Infrastructure (DOTI)’s budget hearing — DOTI Executive Director, Adam Phipps, presented the proposed department budget to City Council members
- October 5 and 6: City Council budget workshops — City Council members met to discuss and vote on proposed amendments to the Mayor’s proposed budget
- By October 16: Mayor Johnston will release his updated budget
- October 23: Public hearing about the budget
- By November 10: Mayor Johnston will share his final final budget
- November 13: City Council will pass the final budget
What’s in the budget, exactly?
We can’t claim to have read the 770-page document cover to cover, but we did dive in on the aspects of the budget related to transportation and climate. Here are a few things we’re concerned and excited about.
What we’re concerned about
- The big picture—there’s just not enough money to fund all of the things we need.
The DOTI budget falls well short of what’s needed to realize the vision laid out in plans like the recently released Denver Moves Everyone strategic transportation plan and the updated Vision Zero Action Plan. The Mayor’s DOTI Transition Committee report highlights the fact that while Denver’s population and GDP have continued to grow, transportation spending per capita has decreased over time. Denver currently spends about $310 per capita annually on transportation, compared to a national average of about $600 per capita. Peer cities like Seattle, that have made more progress than Denver on goals like reducing traffic fatalities and increasing transit ridership, spend about $1,000 per capita. Obviously, money doesn’t grow on trees and the City has limited resources to provide a multitude of services, but this budget clearly isn’t keeping pace with our city’s transportation needs. This is deeply concerning and we need city leaders to start seriously exploring new opportunities for more consistent, sustained funding to expand the transportation options that are available to Denverites. - Next, nearly 70 people have been killed on Denver streets in traffic crashes already this year—and that’s after 84 people were killed in each of the past two years. The Mayor’s proposed 2024 budget included cuts to key programs like Vision Zero, Safe Routes to School, and bike infrastructure. There’s not much to say about that besides this: these funding levels are clearly inadequate to address the traffic safety crisis in Denver.
- Lastly, we’re concerned with the decrease in DOTI’s base budget for multimodal transportation over time. In 2022, the Transportation and Mobility Fund, DOTI’s special revenue fund, was established with an increase in parking meter fees. The idea was for this to provide additional funding for multimodal transportation. But, over the past two years, there have been cuts to DOTI’s base budget (money allocated from the City’s general fund). The Transportation and Mobility Fund should be used to expand multimodal transportation funding, not backfill budget gaps.
What we’re excited about
- While we’re concerned about a number of things in the DOTI budget, we want to highlight one thing we’re particularly excited to see. Denver’s Office of Climate Action, Sustainability & Resiliency (CASR) has allocated $6 million in their budget for bus rapid transit (BRT) on Colfax. Transit is a key part of meeting our climate goals as a city. It’s good to see CASR chipping into a project like this, even though it may be more difficult to measure the direct impact of greenhouse gas reduction per dollar contributed. Since CASR has a sustained funding source, we’d like to see them making a regular contribution to transit operations.
At the end of the day, a budget document is an expression of values and we think there’s a lot of work to do if Denver is really a city that is committed to things like reducing greenhouse gas emissions and eliminating traffic fatalities.
So, what’s next?
During the budget workshops on October 5 and 6, a supermajority of City Council members voted to advance a few budget amendments for Vision Zero, Safe Routes to School, and traffic calming. We sent Mayor Johnston a short letter of support for those amendments and urge you to do the same today. And, if you’re feeling motivated, you can send your council member a quick email thanking them for advancing the amendments (find their contact info on the City’s website).
We’ll be keeping an eye out for the Mayor’s updated budget, which will be released by October 16. What’s included (or not) in that version of the budget will determine what we advocate for during the public hearing on October 23. Stay tuned for our take on the updated budget and how to participate in that public hearing!