It was a year of big goals on a tight budget for the Mile High City, where Mayor Mike Johnston’s announcement of a $200 million city budget deficit dominated the news coverage. 

Facing a $50 million gap in its 2025 budget and a projected $200 million in 2026, Johnston announced plans to tighten the city’s belt in May, with the mayor breaking the bad news to residents and city staffers to brace for budget cuts, furloughs, layoffs, and hiring freezes.

The announcement triggered blowback from residents and councilmembers.

It also put the spotlight on the city’s spending decisions.

Word of the massive shortfall even cast lingering worries over Johnston’s $1 billion Vibrant Denver Bond initiative, which voters approved in November. 

City officials blamed flattening city revenues, driven — they said — by national economic uncertainty and rising costs for much of Denver’s fiscal woes. They argued that, with early action to slow hiring in 2024, the city significantly minimized the impact on employees and public services.

By October, Johnston delivered his proposed 2026 budget, which he termed “cut to the bone,” and warned city councilmembers that any budget amendments that would further reduce departments’ spending would have ramifications affecting core services or triggering additional layoffs.

Councilmembers complained of a lack of engagement from the mayor. This statement came amid ongoing disagreements over the city’s budget and oversight authority.

Denver City Clerk and Recorder Paul López weighed in, accusing Johnston of aiming to “raid” the budgets of the city’s independent agencies in an effort to close the deficit.

The Clerk argued that 2026 was not the year for such budget cuts, with both a primary and a general election looming and “the world watching.” He called the notion a “slap in the face.”

“(The) City Council is not simply an advisory body in this process — under the City Charter, we are the authority responsible for reviewing, proposing amendments to, and ultimately approving the budget,” City Council President Amanda P. Sandoval said. “Facing a $200 million shortfall, we must ensure fiscal responsibility while meeting the needs of Denver residents.”

Johnston ultimately agreed to the council’s proposed budget changes, and the body, and in turn, approved the $1.66 billion budget as amended.

“Although I am proud of the work that went into this budget, I am concerned that some of the passed amendments dip further into the city’s reserve and contingency funds before we even start 2026,” Johnston said in a letter to the Denver City Council. “Because these changes require funding beyond the coming year, which contingency cannot provide, we will have to find different funding sources to sustain them in 2027.”