Denver Mayor Mike Johnston has returned his amended 2026 spending plan back to the City Council for review, leveraging $4 million in interest from American Rescue Plan Act funds to address 11 of the council’s 16 proposed additions.

The addition now brings the proposed city spending plan to $1.664 million.

Along with added funding for rental assistance, and immigrant legal services, Johnston’s updated spending plan also addresses parking citation appeals through a new program and allocates new funding to both the Auditor’s Office and the Clerk and Recorder, according to a statement released by his office on Monday afternoon.

“This budget is a reminder that even in the toughest of times we can come together in shared sacrifice and commitment to serving the people of Denver,” Johnston said. “While it is not possible for us to fulfill all of these requests without impacting agencies or employees, this revised budget reflects our willingness to work with Council to address our shared priorities for the good of our city.”

Johnston stated that while he agreed with the City Council, not all of them could be funded given the city’s tight budget.

“We’ve been monitoring our spending carefully, and the only resource of available funds remaining for 2026 is approximately $4 million in one-time American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) interest,” the statement said. “While it was our intention to preserve ARPA reserves in instances of unexpected project costs or other expenses, we share Council’s priorities and will allocate funding accordingly. This is one-time revenue that, once spent, will not be available again in 2027.”

Priorities addressed in the new budget include:

Department of Housing Stability
Increase Temporary Rental and Utility Assistance (TRUA) Funding ($7,000,000) to ($15,000,000) in 2026: Before COVID, the TRUA program was only a $2.5 million/year program. Federal ARPA funding received post COVID allowed the program to expand considerably, but only temporarily. The city will add $2.9 million to TRUA in 2026, funded by ARPA interest, bringing the total available for TRUA in 2026 to $15.1 million. 

Denver County Court  
Restore Parking Magistrates ($575,000): As an independent agency, the County Court has the final authority on whether they restore their Parking Magistrate program. In discussions with the County Court, the city has been exploring how to address parking citation disputes as an administrative function outside of the court system. DOTI will create a new administrative parking ticket appeal program without going to court, including absorbing the potential expenses to facilitate the process in the city’s transportation and mobility fund, which is funded by parking meter and parking fine revenue. 

Human Rights and Community Partnerships 
Restore Immigrant Legal Services Fund ($125,000): The city will put an additional $125,000 toward Immigrant Legal Services, bringing the total to $750,000 for this fund in 2026. The additional funding will come from interest the city has earned on its ARPA revenue. 

Department of Public Health and Environment  
Fund Denver Food System Summit ($50,000): This will be funded at $50,000 using interest the city has earned on its ARPA revenue. 

Department of Excise and Licenses 
Maintain Excise Community Equity Fund ($30,000): The Department of Excise and Licenses’ 2026 budget is $5.9 million, and the agency will adjust its planned spending in 2026 to ensure up to $30,000 remains available for individual residents and neighborhood groups within the Business License Hearing Fund. 

Auditor’s Office  
Restore the Base Budget in Auditor’s Office ($499,038): The auditor remains on track to underspend their 2025 budget by over $500,000 and believes they can achieve similar savings in 2026. While the auditor would still like to add $499,038 to their 2026 budget (which they would intend to return by the end of 2026), the General Fund does not have the capacity to provide such flexible funds next year. Instead, the city will use ARPA interest to add $120,000 to their 2026 budget, which will allow them to launch a Wage Justice Fund. 

Denver Clerk and Recorder  
Fund the Clerk and Recorder for the 2026 Elections: The city will work with the Clerk’s Office to find cost savings and provide support where possible and will use ARPA interest to add an additional $800,000 to the Clerk’s 2026 budget for the anticipated increase in postage rate, paper and printing costs. 

Mayor’s Office 
Move Mayoral Appointee Salaries to Mayor’s Office Budget (No Cost): The Mayor’s Office agrees with council on this commonsense measure, which improves transparency and corrects a decades-old practice. The budget book now shows the 19% reduction in the total Mayor’s Office budget for 2026, driven primarily by eliminating 11 positions in the Mayor’s Office and among appointees.

Requests already budgeted or underway: 

Human Rights and Community Partnerships 
Restore Denver Anti-Discrimination Program Staff ($75,000) by hiring a new full-time employee: to lead the new Access for All division, with a dedicated focus on the agency’s anti-discrimination work, including education, outreach, and mediation. The city is currently recruiting for this position, and it is budgeted. 

Department of Safety 
Fill Vacant Crime Lab Positions ($537,283): These positions were not eliminated in the 2026 budget. The Department of Safety has the budget to hire these positions in 2026 once the citywide hiring freeze is lifted. 

Department of Transportation and Infrastructure  
Increase Safe Routes to School Funding ($2,040,000): Funding for this program comes from multiple sources, including the city’s capital budget, transportation and mobility fund, and state grants. Across all sources, nearly $2.4 million in new funding will be made available in 2026, $1.3 million from city sources and $1.1 million from the state’s department of transportation. 

Requests that cannot be address without additions cuts to services and personnel: 

Department of Housing Stability  Restore Denver Day Works Funding ($550,000): The Denver Day Works Program was available for people experiencing homelessness. As the city’s broader approach to homelessness has shifted, the city will leverage support from Denver Workforce Development.

Department of Public Health and Environment  
Restore STAR Program Funding ($500,000): The 2026 budget for STAR was set to maintain 2025 service levels, but given the city’s financial outlook, city officials state that 2026 is not going to be a year in which the program could expand. 

“As of right now, Council’s 2026 budget is set to increase by $540,681 or 5.56%, when most other agencies’ budgets are decreasing,” Johnston said in a letter to members of the City Council. “This STAR funding could be restored if Council is willing to consider the 5% budget reduction we recommended for independent agencies in 2026. 

Denver Economic Development and Opportunity  
Continue WorkReady Program Funding ($600,000): WorkReady was launched at the height of the migrant response. While those individuals have been served, Denver Workforce Development will continue to serve as a free, employment and training resource for jobseekers and employers throughout Denver. DEDO has sufficient funding to continue these services in 2026. 

Department of Transportation and Infrastructure 
Restore Right of Way Enforcement Funding ($1,360,000): The city has 40 right-of-way enforcement agents budgeted in 2026, including 12 vacant positions that may be hired when the citywide hiring freeze is lifted. The 17 positions listed in the letter from City Council were additional vacant positions, which have been unbudgeted for 2026. According to Johnston’s letter, restoring these positions would require that the Department of Transportation and Infrastructure to eliminate 17 other, potentially filled positions instead. 

Denver Sheriff Department 
Restore Crisis Response Team Positions ($286,000): While requested funding for the CRT is not available, all Sheriff’s Department deputies are trained on crisis intervention and mental health first aid, and the deaprtment has six filled positions to provide core mental health services in city jails. The department also uses a contract with Denver Health to provide initial mental health screening and escalated responses when needed.

This marks the second pass by members of the council regarding how the city will fund itself amid a $200 million budget deficit.

The City Council will hold a public hearing on the budget Oct. 27. 

Nov. 3 will be the final opportunity for the council to propose and vote on budget amendments.

On or before noon on Nov. 7, the mayor must accept or veto any council-approved amendments.

Any veto to be overridden by the City Council will be considered Nov. 10, before the final budget is approved. A supermajority of nine votes is required to override a veto.