Council to take vote on full budget

With more than a dozen hours of workshops and study sessions behind them, Loveland City Council is gearing up for its first formal vote on the 2023 budget at Tuesday night’s regular meeting.

Council will be taking action on three resolutions and nine ordinances authorizing everything from the 2023 budget for the Northern Colorado Regional Airport, to the 2022 city mill levy rate, to future rates for utilities.

The city finance office is projecting $115,128,679 in revenues for Loveland’s general fund next year, earned through a combination of sales and property taxes, permit fees, licenses and fines, as well as internal transfers.

That is a 9.4% increase from the 2022 adopted budget revenue of $105,211,653. The 2022 actual amount is projected to be $106,500,507.

General fund expenditures are also expected to rise in 2023, to $136,481,389, including one-time capital expenses.

Just under a quarter of that ($30,887,341, 22.6%) will be going to the Loveland Police Department, an 11% increase over its 2022 adopted budget. Parks and Recreation, which accounts for 10.5% of the city budget, is also expected to see an 11% jump in expenditures.

Much of the overall increase in spending is driven by an 82.6% rise in debt service expense (to $14,213,818) and an 11% increase in purchased power (to $52,032,757). Personal services expenses are also projected to rise due to a citywide salary increase of 6.0%.

The city is also projecting $92.5 million in total capital expenditures in 2023, about half of that ($47.9) from enterprise funds, including $20.5 million for power and $13.8 million for water.

Of the rest, $13.5 million in projects will come from the general fund unassigned balance or TABOR excess, including streets rehab, software upgrades, and park facility upgrades.

The proposed mill levy is unchanged from 2022 at 9.564 mills.

If council manages to complete its budget votes with time to spare, it will also hear a presentation from city human resources director Julia Holland about whether to participate in the Colorado Paid Family Medical Leave Insurance Program. Holland recommends that the city decline to participate, since its existing leave policies are similar.

How to participate

The council will meet at 6 p.m. Tuesday in the council chambers at the Municipal Building, 500 E. Third St.

Comments from members of the public will be accepted in person as well as over Zoom.

Those wishing to join by Zoom can use the ID 975 3779 6504 with a passcode of 829866, according to the meeting agenda.

The meeting will be broadcast on Comcast Channel 16/880, Pulse TV channel 16 and streamed through the city’s website at lovgov.org/tv.

Tuesday’s agenda packet can be found through the Loveland City Council’s website at lovgov.org.