Funds for arts, housing added

Boulder City Council late Tuesday night opted to increase funding for the arts, Housing and Human Services, the fire department and its library system after dozens of residents expressed concerns about proposed cuts in the first of two public hearings scheduled by the city.

The $341.2 million proposed budget, which is down $28.5 million from what council approved 2020, reflects the challenges

caused by the economic downturn from the coronavirus pandemic.

During its first budget reading on Tuesday, the Boulder City Council decided to reduce the city’s reserves by $560,000 in order to add $200,000 for Housing and Human Services, $160,000 for Boulder Fire-rescue and $100,000 apiece for arts and library funding. That decision came just before midnight after a number of residents spoke out against proposed cuts to each.

The budget hearing went well past the time allotted by council, which led Mayor Pro Tem Bob Yates to suggest moving the second public hearing on the agenda to a later date. Although community members were allowed to provide comment on the matter, the council decided to wait to conduct the public hearing where it’s set to discuss its 2021 policy statement and choose positions on upcoming ballot measures. The date for this hearing will be set in an upcoming Council Agenda Committee meeting.

In terms of the budget, Boulder residents also had concerns about the Boulder Police Department’s $36.8 million budget. City staff members are facing cuts and furloughs, but members of the Boulder Police Officer’s Association will be the sole city employees receiving a raise because of a collective bargaining agreement that mandates it.

The Boulder Police Department’s budget is currently $1.8 million less than what the city approved in 2020, but some argued it should be slashed more.

“Boulder has a chance to actually be a progressive city here,” Riley Mancuso said during comment, pushing for the city to reduce the Boulder Police Department budget.

Quite a few members of Boulder’s arts community expressed concerns about cuts to grant funding for the arts in a time when many nonprofit organizations, theaters and galleries are struggling.

“I urge you to consider making cuts to the arts a little less severe,” said Melissa Fathman, executive director of Boulder’s Dairy Arts Center.

Though the cuts aren’t ideal, City Manager Jane Brautigam said the almost $770,000 that was originally allocated is a lot of money.

“It’s unfortunate that we’ve had to reduce it, but this is one of the items that we needed to do to make the budget balance this year,” she said.

After quite a bit of discussion, however, Boulder City Council opted to pad that amount with an additional $100,000.

“When we think of the arts, it serves people across the community, people of multiple income brackets,” Councilmember Junie Joseph said. “It’s a real equity issue to not fund the arts.”

A second budget hearing will be Oct. 20.