Aurora’s budget forecast

The city of Aurora, Colorado and the rest of the country, is going through a difficult economic downturn.  The city is experiencing low, and in some cases, negative revenue growth.  The poor economy is resulting in much lower sales tax revenue, the city’s main revenue source.

The weak economy led by foreclosures, difficult access to credit, and economic concerns of homeowners and potential homeowners, has led to a major reduction in construction whether for new homes or commercial buildings. The city is expecting a significant major budget shortfall in 2009 and much lower revenue in 2010 than was previously expected.

Over much of this decade, the city has had difficult budgets. In addition to reducing spending and the number of staff since 2003, the city has been actively working to become more efficient. This has included many actions that increased efficiency as well as extensive privatization. The city has now redoubled those efforts and has also taken other steps such as holding vacant positions open, reducing fuel usage by implementing new fuel saving practices, locking in fuel prices through a joint purchasing agreement with Denver, further reducing travel and training, eliminating almost all replacement of vehicles and line by line reviews to reduce or eliminate non-essential costs.  Unfortunately, some of these actions have an impact on services. The city is working to minimize these impacts, but some are unavoidable. For example, cutbacks on street repaving have been necessary and substantial cutbacks in library staffing have impacted library services.

The city is working to adjust services in accordance with the new budget reality. The budget difficulties are expected to continue in 2010 and the City Council is currently considering a full range of options. These options being reviewed include expenditure and service reductions, expenditure growth management, revenue enhancements, further efficiency improvements, and use of fund balance. The primary focus at this point is to reduce expenditures (which will have an unavoidable further impact on services) because all the large revenue enhancements involve a ballot question on taxes, and the result of any election is not certain so the city must be prepared to balance the budget without major revenue increases.

To better understand Aurora’s financial situation, here are some basic facts about the city and the economy:

Aurora is a great place to live and work

• 108 municipal parks
• 6,000 acres of Open Space with bike and walking trails
• 7 public libraries
• National and international companies, as well as federal and military employers
• Largest bioscience and health education and health care facilities in the state
• Sports City USA
• 21 million square feet in retail space
• 3 reservoirs
• 7 golf courses

Aurora is award-winning for innovation and performance

• Named 2008 All-America City by the National Civic League.
• In 2008 Aurora ranked second highest in the country, for places to raise a family, save money.
• Aurora captured the title of the most technology-advanced city in America, according to the Center for Digital Government in 2007 and 2008.
• National accreditations of city departments: Building Codes Division, Public Works, Police and Fire Departments.
• Women’s Health and Men’s Health magazines named Aurora one of the top ten healthiest cities in America
• International City Managers Association’s 2006 first place winner for excellence in community sustainability for the Home of Our Own Program and the 2007 first place winner for Nature as Your Neighbor – living in harmony with Colorado wildlife and nature.
• Denver Regional Council of Governments gold winter for the Senior Housing Program for 2006 and first place winner for Innovation for the Weed and Seed crime fighting program
• Aurora Water’s Sand Creek Reuse Facility received the Gold Peak Performance award from the National Association of Clean Water Agencies.

Basic facts about the economy

• The U.S. economy has been in decline since 2002.
• Recovery from the recession will be slow.
• Costs for concrete, energy and other products a city needs to function have risen significantly.
• An aging population is spending less on taxable goods and more on non-taxable services.
• The average family size is getting smaller and spending less on taxable goods.
• New home construction is declining.

Facts on Aurora’s budget and economy

• Revenues are going up but the state economy is rising at a slower pace
• Expenses rising faster than revenue (insurance, utilities, fuel, staffing)
• Current cost of services rose five percent in 2008.
• Public Safety costs growing faster than revenue.
• The city has made $19.6 million in ongoing budget cuts since 2002.
• Aurora continues to be efficient and reduce expenses wherever possible.

Last sales tax increase:

§ The last sales tax increase occurred in 1993 in the amount of .25 percent to cover the voter mandate of two police officers per 1000 residents.

Last bond initiative

§ The last bond initiative that passed occurred in 2000, resulting in additional funding for parks, police, fire and libraries (capital projects). All projects were done on time and under budget.

Aurora is a “full service” city and provides these services:

• Aurora provides these services:

o Police
o Fire and emergency medical services
o Water, wastewater and storm drain/flood control
o Parks and Open Space
o Libraries
o Recreation centers/classes
o Municipal Courts
o Detention Center
o Streets planning, design, construction and maintenance
o City zoning and development
o Animal Care
o Building inspections and permits
o Business licensing
o Development services
o Code enforcement

• Aurora does not provide:

o Health and human services
o Public transportation services
o Education

For more information on the city of Aurora’s budget, visit: www.auroragov.org/AuroraGov/Departments/Finance/index.htm.

View the results of the Defining Our Services Citizen Survey: Survey Results

View a PowerPoint presentation concerning the budget: Budget Presentation

View charts on where the city’s revenue comes, and where it goes: Budget Charts