Denver Mayor John Hickenlooper on Monday released a proposed budget for 2009 that would increase general fund expenditures by 5 percent, to $914 million.
The budget projects general fund revenues to grow 2.9 percent, increasing to $896 million.
One-time expenditures, including the purchase of a computer system for sales-tax collections, accounted for the gap between the growth in revenues and expenditures. Excess reserves would finance that gap.
The general fund reserve balance will grow to $137 million, up from the $88 million in such reserves that existed in 2003.
“Like the preceding budgets of the past five years, the proposed 2009 budget reflects the difficult work of finding new efficiencies in agencies that have undergone substantial reduction in prior years, as well as the challenge of prioritizing our limited additional resources around our most critical priorities,” Hickenlooper said in a budget letter to the public and City Council members.
The mayor’s budget continues an emphasis on spending for safety measures and environmental programs.
Spending for the Crime Prevention and Control Commission, charged with finding ways to reduce jail populations, would increase $600,000, to $3.5 million, under Hickenlooper’s proposal.
He also wants to provide $351,000 to continue funding a newly formed gang task force in the office of District Attorney Mitch Morrissey. He also would increase graffiti prevention and coordination efforts by $250,000.
Wages for career service employees are projected to increase about 4 percent under the budget proposal.
The budget will go before the City Council, which can modify it with a seven-vote majority. If such modifications occur, the mayor can veto them. It takes nine of the 13 council members to override a mayoral veto.
Other initiatives that would receive funding under the mayor’s budget include $227,000 to finance an environmental-management system, a climate-action plan and greenprint-action agenda.
Revenues are expected to be slower than originally projected, with a projected 22 percent increase in fuel costs and 9 percent projected increase in utility costs.
Those realities require the city to overcome a $20 million gap against original projections of annual revenues. That gap was mostly closed with a number of belt-tightening measures that should not effect core services, said Ed Scholz, the city’s director of budget and management.
“A lot of this was achieved by our people becoming more efficient,” Scholz said.
He said the city already has made $13 million in such cuts. Department managers are expected to come out with the remaining $7 million in cuts over the next year, Scholz said.
Christopher N. Osher: 303-954-1747 or cosher@denverpost.com
