Denver’s budget for building roads and adding stoplights is projected in 2008 to be lower than the lean times of 2003 and 2004.
And it will be 2011 before the Public Works Department has a capital improvements budget that is higher than it is this year.
The figures, presented Wednesday at a committee meeting, caught several City Council members off guard.
“It was amazing to me to learn that we had a dramatic cut in the budget for this important aspect of what the city does,” said Councilwoman Marcia Johnson, who chairs the public works committee.
She added later, “When I told my colleagues about this, they were stunned.”
Public Works has a budget of about $22 million for capital improvements this year. But over the next three years, the department is projecting budgets of $17.3 million, $17.7 million and $21.4 million.
The capital budget covers new projects, while maintenance falls in the operations budget.
“In the tough years of 2003-04, we had more money for these projects than we do this year,” Johnson said. “And those dollars went further.”
Public Works officials said one-time revenues had inflated the capital improvements budget. For instance, manager Bill Vidal said the city sold land worth $7.2 million and that money went to capital improvements around the city.
Since Public Works performs the lion’s share of capital improvements, they received most of that money – and in turn, the bulk of the cut.
“It’s going to be a challenging couple of years,” said Ken Johnstone, with the policy and planning division of Public Works. “We’re going to have some tough decisions to make to be sure.”
There could be more money in the future for capital improvements, however. A task force is reviewing hundreds of millions of dollars in capital projects and is expected to recommend a tax increase.
“As you know right now,” Lee Oliver, with the budget and management office, told council members, “the Infrastructure Priorities Task Force is discussing the issue of financing capital projects, and changing that revenue mix.”
But that did not sit well with Councilwoman Judy Montero, who suggested that the tightening budget was artificial to highlight a need for more money.
“This doesn’t feel right,” she said. “It feels like projects are being squeezed in anticipation that the infrastructure task force recommendations one, are going to be accepted and two, will be passed.”
Oliver said that was not the case.
“This is simply the result of what we can expect to see in terms of revenue sources,” Oliver said, “and what we can expect to spend.”
Vidal told council members that his department would work hard to “get the greatest bang for the buck.”
“We’re moving in a good direction,” Vidal said, “but yeah, we would love to have more money.”
Staff writer George Merritt can be reached at 303-954-1657 or gmerritt@denverpost.com.
