Greeley city council approves 2022 city budget. Here’s a look at the highlights.
By Kelly Ragan
City councilmembers voted unanimously Tuesday to approve the 2022 city budget.
While the future remains uncertain due to COVID-19, and funding hasn’t yet returned to pre-pandemic levels, city staff is cautiously optimistic.
At a previous city council meeting, Interim City Manager Raymond Lee said the city made smart moves to minimize financial damage caused by the pandemic. Going forward amid uncertainty, Lee said the city recommends prioritizing investments that he said are critical to the city’s long-term success.
“That includes investing in employees with cost-of-living increasing, strategic investments in public safety, community vitality and quality of life, mobility, sustainability, and creating a high performing government overall,” Lee said.
The city will continue to monitor economic recovery and make adjustments as necessary, Lee said.
Here’s a snapshot of the highlights.
City revenue
The big unknown, obviously, is COVID-19. But according to city staff, even if things go bad, the city is confident it has strong reserves and could withstand economic pullback.
Despite the economic turbulence, the city is still projecting nearly $10 million in revenue growth in the general fund, coming from sales and use taxes, property taxes, and other revenue streams.
The city looks at several indicators to forecast what kind of tax revenue it can expect to bring in over the year, and thus what it can spend.
Those indicators include things like the number of new housing permits issued, jobs added or lost, wage growth, and more.
Here’s snapshot of Greeley’s economic health
Overall employment fell by 4.4% in the past year
Wages grew by 1.6%, however that was lower than inflation, 2.4%
Top 10 industries lost 2,261 jobs in the past year
Top 10 industries expected to add 912 jobs in 2022
City priorities
Lee previously the city had three main priorities as it developed the budget. Those included:
Restoring services impacted by COVID-19: reopening city recreation centers and returning programming to the Union Colony Civic Center.
Investing in staff: new positions, new equipment, raises for existing employees
Organizational investments that allow the city to adapt and manage growth: department assessments and staffing adjustments, compensation and class analysis, public safety
New positions proposed in the budget
Public safety: two police officers, a services and administrative division chief
Administration: office of human affairs contract position
Transportation: water quality and regulatory compliance manager, engineering and concrete technician, equipment maintenance mechanic
Water and Sewer: five plant operators, two utility locators, water quality analyst, maintenance mechanic, seasonal labor water meter installation
More organizational investments proposed in the budget
Public safety: salary increases, co-responder agreement (supporting residents in need), upgraded police equipment (body armor, rifle cases, etc.)
Programming and recreation: Return to pre-COVID service levels, Boomerang stormwater construction (required drainage), Emerald Ash Borer tree impact
Administrative: Compensation and classification implementation, small equipment replacement fund, strategic master plan and community needs assessment
Infrastructure: Water and sewer maintenance and equipment, high mountain reservoir maintenance, regional strategic water quality funding
Changes to utility rates
The budget included a proposal to increase utility rates. So, if you live in a single-family home, expect to pay more.
A single-family home can expect their utility rates to increase by $10/month, bumping it up from about $100.30/month to $110.22/month. These increases are being driven primarily by capital improvement projects, such as addressing drainage issues downtown.
City staff said the increase would remain competitive with neighboring communities.