In Tuesday 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:
Dominguez reported that Longmont lost $1 million in property taxes this year following changes to Colorado law regarding property tax assessment ratios.
Sales tax growth rates in the city have steadily dropped since 2021 when they peaked at ~13%. In 2025, they hit a valley of ~2%. Longmont Chief Financial Officer Teresa Malloy credited the slump to curbed city development and “an aging community really nearing build-out.” A silver lining: Malloy noted 2026’s growth rate rebounded slightly to around 4%.
Longmont’s use tax revenue has been extremely unpredictable. Dominguez cited international and national economic headwinds, inflation, interest rates and construction industry volatility as major contributing factors.
Despite the murkiness, city staff proposed a grand total of $547.5 million for the city’s operating budget, a 5.32% increase from last year.
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 Tuesday 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:
September 8, 15, 22: Continue budget discussions.
September 29, October 6: Public hearings on 2027 budget.
November 17: First reading for budget adoption ordinance.
December 1: Second reading for budget adoption ordinance.
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.