Monday’s Denver City Council meeting will likely be a long night. Council members will hold a required public hearing on Mayor Mike Johnston’s proposed 2026 spending plan.

City officials note that on budget hearing night, the number of people providing public comment has averaged in the range of 50-60, but this year’s number will not be known until the sign-up period closes at 3 p.m. Monday. 

Regardless of the number, all those who do sign up will be heard by the council.

On Oct. 20, the mayor returned his budget to the council for a second look, adding $4 million in funding for 11 of the 16 priorities council members asked to be considered, bringing the city’s proposed spending plan to $1.664 billion.

The additional funding came from the interest earned on the city’s remaining American Rescue Plan Act funds.

There will be no budget amendments offered at this meeting. Members of the council wishing to put forth amendments will do so at the Nov. 3 City Council meeting.

Two proclamations will be issued at the 3:30 p.m. session.

The first will honor the victims of United Flight 629. 

At 6:52 p.m. on Nov. 1, 1955, United Air Lines Flight 629 departed from Denver’s Stapleton Airfield. Approximately 11 minutes into the flight, the plane exploded, killing 39 passengers, five crew members and scattering debris across rural Longmont. 

This year marks the 70th anniversary of the event.

The incident is significant not only in Colorado history but also in U.S. history, as it led to some of the nation’s first calls for baggage screening and placement of air marshals on flights, according to History Colorado. 

The second proclamation will recognize the services of Denver’s Registered Neighborhood Organizations and the Denver Inter-Neighborhood Cooperation.

Also on Monday, the council is scheduled to sit as the quasi-judicial Board of Equalization to consider reducing total cost assessments for Local Maintenance Districts. 

However, the city reports that no written protests of assessment were filed with the manager of the Department of Transportation and Infrastructure by the Oct. 9 deadline.

Accordingly, the council will not sit as the Board of Equalization on Monday for the following districts:

• 15th Street Pedestrian Mall 
• 32nd and Lowell Pedestrian Mall 
• Delgany Street 
• East 13th Avenue Pedestrian Mall 
• Golden Triangle Pedestrian Mall Phase II 
• West 38th Avenue Pedestrian Mall 
• Skyline Park 
• Tennyson Street II Pedestrian Mall 
• Tennyson Streetscape (Portions of 38th Avenue to 44th Avenue) 
• West 38th Avenue Phase I Pedestrian Mall 
• West 44th Avenue and Eliot Street Pedestrian Mall

The Denver City Council will hold its regular meeting on Monday at 3:30 p.m., with the general public comment session scheduled to begin at 5 p.m.