Happy hump day, Longmont! We’ve officially made it to September, which means pumpkin spice lattes are back at Starbucks, football is in full force, and it’s not that hot anymore. In other news, today’s temperature is expected to top out at a mild 89 degrees.

Today, we’re breaking down Longmont City Council’s budget session, Landline Doughnuts’ hustle to find a buyer for their recipe and equipment, and a longtime Longmont company has a new owner.

Let’s dive in.

In last night’s Longmont City Council meeting, City Manager Harold Dominguez proposed that Longmont wait until after November’s election to finalize a budget.

The delay is largely in order to see the results of a ballot measure that asks Longmont voters to raise sales and property taxes to fund more public safety jobs. If it’s approved, city staff will incorporate the new revenue projections into the budget proposal.

Adopting a budget later than October is rare although not unheard of — it last happened in 2018 when city council approved 2019’s budget on November 13. This year, it may need to wait until December.

But…there are other issues aside from an election complicating the city’s excel spreadsheets:

Rewinding:

Typically, Longmont already has a full line item budget proposal by this point. The Longmont Brief reported Monday it was delayed until mid-September. Dominguez elaborated last night, stating that staff needed additional data on sales and use tax performance to get an accurate picture of city revenue.

“Revenues were a difficult process this year,” Dominguez said.

Moving forward

Alas, the road to a finalized budget trudges ahead. Several more meetings will be needed to break down the numbers, as well as public hearings. Some of the highlights from the timeline Dominguez proposed before council:

Did you miss Longmont City Council’s five-hour regular session last week? Catch up in 30 minutes by listening to Longmont City Council Recap, a recently launched podcast that recaps Longmont City Council meetings in roughly a half hour.

August ends with disappointing rainfall totals: Longmont recorded 0.58 inches of rain throughout the month of August, according to the National Weather Service. That’s leaps and bounds below Longmont’s historical average for the month, which usually hits 1.95 inches. Not only was it an abnormally dry month, but it was a hot one, too. August averaged a daily high temperature of 90.7 degrees (the historical average is 87.8 degrees), and Longmont hit 103 degrees on August 3 — the hottest August 3 in Longmont history. On the bright side, August 2026’s daily average high temperature wasn’t a record. That distinction belongs to 1995 when August averaged 92.3 degrees.

80-year-old Longmont business acquired by national gas company: Yesterday, Meritus Gas Partners announced that its subsidiary, Buckeye Welding Supply, acquired Wagner Welding Supply. Headquartered at 10 Gay St. in Longmont, Wagner has called the city home since 1969 but has been serving all of Boulder County since 1939. Whether you need a propane tank refilled for your next BBQ, or nitrous oxide for a dental procedure, Wagner has been a longtime source for all things gas. The Wagner culture won’t change too much, however — Owner Dennis Ogden said “Meritus has a unique model that allows us to maintain the culture and legacy that made Wagner successful, while providing access to the resources and expertise of a larger organization.” Stay tuned for more on this story.

New cooling features at three Longmont parks: The City of Longmont has added cooling features to three parks across the city: Lanyon, Kensington, and Spangler. The upgrades include shaded seating at Kensington and Spangler Parks, improved amphitheater-style community gathering space at Kensington and Lanyon, an updated swing set at Kensington, and our favorite, a cooling mist feature at Lanyon. The city is also hosting a celebration of the improvements at Lanyon on September 12 from 11 a.m. - 12 p.m.

Your teenager’s homework isn’t the only being left to the last minute.

Landline Doughnuts owners John and Jodi Mowery thought they had a deal to sell all of their equipment and their doughnut recipe. Today, that’s no more. Landline announced in a social media post that negotiations fell through with a prospective buyer.

After the Mowery’s announced in June that Landline Doughnuts was closing permanently so the pair could move closer to family in Washington state, a flood of interest in buying what Landline had to offer arrived. When Jodi and John felt confident in one buyer, they settled. But now, they’re starting over.

What happened?

Jodi Mowery said she and her husband decided the buyer’s was offer was too low and undervalued Landline’s equipment and recipe. After extensive back-and-forth, the deal fell through and Landline is looking again to the field. But…

Fate of the building?

The Mowery’s declined to elaborate on who’s filling the space Landline used to call home, but Jodi revealed that it will become a “public space.”