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Denver’s Spending Grew 60% in a Decade, But Revenues and Population Lagged Far Behind
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Rocky Mountain Voice, Local, Top Stories

Denver’s Spending Grew 60% in a Decade, But Revenues and Population Lagged Far Behind

By Shaina Cole | Contributing Writer, Rocky Mountain Voice Denver’s budget has grown sharply over the past ten years, far faster than its population and its ability to bring in tax dollars. A new analysis from the Common Sense Institute shows inflation-adjusted spending per resident rose about 60 percent since 2015. During that period, revenues grew more slowly, at about 40 percent, while the city’s population increased by less than 7 percent. The mismatch is why Denver now faces a projected $250 million gap over the next two years, even as officials push a $950 million bond proposal for housing, roads, and other projects. Spending Priorities Have Shifted Where the money goes has changed dramatically. Construction and infrastructure costs have ballooned, climbing more than elev...
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Colorado Turns Sports Betting Into Major Water-Project Funding
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Colorado Politics, Approved, State

Colorado Turns Sports Betting Into Major Water-Project Funding

By Marianne Goodland | Colorado Politics Funding for the state’s 2015 water plan started as a trickle. But sports gaming revenue has now turned that trickle into a steady stream. The Colorado Division of Gaming announced this week that nearly $33.8 million from 2024-25 will be allocated to the Colorado Water Conservation Board to support the state’s water plan, with distribution to water projects set to begin in July 2026. Estimates of the following year’s revenues are even better: a forecast of nearly $39 million that could help fund hundreds of projects throughout the state. It’s a far cry from when the water plan got underway in 2015. Back then, the expectation was that the state would need to invest approximately $100 million per year for 30 years between 2020 and 2050, ...
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Westminster launches $260M water plant with groundbreaking ceremony on September 24
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kdvr.com, Approved, Local

Westminster launches $260M water plant with groundbreaking ceremony on September 24

By: Abraham Jewett | KDVR DENVER (KDVR) — The city of Westminster is preparing to break ground on a new $206 million drinking water facility. The facility will be able to treat 14.7 million gallons of water per day, according to the city, which said Tuesday that it has been designed to “provide clean, safe, and affordable drinking water for generations to come.” A ceremonial groundbreaking will take place on Wednesday, Sept. 24, from 5 to 6:30 p.m. on site at 9988 Westminster Blvd. The event is on the east side of Westminster Boulevard between 98th and 104th avenues. The city said parking will be available and that the free event, in addition to the ceremonial groundbreaking, will include food trucks, educational activities, and a “close-up look at construction equipment.” T...
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Colorado River faces new threat as zebra mussels take hold
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Fox31, Approved, State

Colorado River faces new threat as zebra mussels take hold

By: Spencer Kristensen | FOX31 KDVR DENVER (KDVR) — Colorado Parks and Wildlife officially declared a portion of the Colorado River as “infested” with invasive zebra mussels after sampling detected adult zebra mussels in the river and another nearby lake in Grand Junction, CPW announced in a press release on Monday afternoon. “While this is news we never wanted to hear, we knew this was a possibility since we began finding veligers in the river,” said CPW Director Jeff Davis in the press release. “I can’t reiterate this enough. It was because we have a group of individuals dedicated to protecting Colorado’s water resources that these detections were made.” On Aug. 28, the Aquatic Animal Health Lab suspected veligers, the microscopic larval stage of zebra mussels, were collected fr...
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Denver explores plans for new Broncos stadium as city grows
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Fox31, Approved, Local

Denver explores plans for new Broncos stadium as city grows

By: Shaul Turner | FOX31 DENVER (KDVR) — While the Broncos stadium proposal announced Tuesday will likely boost Denver’s chances of hosting a Super Bowl and other events, economic experts say the greater benefit will be a boost to Denver’s economy. Empower Field at Mile High stadium opened in 2001 at a cost of more than $400 million. The new multi-billion-dollar stadium will be located about a mile south of that location. Construction is expected to be completed by 2031. “It’s an area that was waiting to be redeveloped,” Dr. Andrew Goetz of the University of Denver told FOX31. The 58-acre abandoned railyard is slated to host a state-of-the-art football stadium with a retractable roof. The project is privately funded by the Walton-Penner ownership group. The city will create ...
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Douglas County water future tied to $2.75M in federal budget
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The Denver Gazette, Approved, Local

Douglas County water future tied to $2.75M in federal budget

By: Noah Festenstein | The Denver Gazette Select Douglas County water districts are poised to receive up to $2.75 million combined for projects dealing with sustainable drinking water or new pipelines. That’s on top of $20 million in American Rescue Plan Act funding already allocated for a wastewater project in northwest Douglas County. Back in May, U.S. Rep. Lauren Boebert of Colorado’s 4th Congressional District, had requested $9 million in federal funding for the Louviers Water & Sanitation District’s drinking water distribution replacement and Castle Rock Water’s Plum Creek to Reuter-Hess Reservoir pipeline projects. On July 22, the federal House Appropriations Committee advanced a bill that included $1.75 million specifically for Castle Rock’s project. The panel also a...
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Greeley voters demand a say on $1.1B entertainment district
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Fox31, Approved, Local

Greeley voters demand a say on $1.1B entertainment district

By Heather Willard | FOX31 DENVER (KDVR) — In April, Greeley City Council voted 5-2 in favor of building a new entertainment district, bringing an arena for the Colorado Eagles, a waterpark, apartments and retail space to the area, but now there are concerns about how the project was advanced. The project has two main portions: Catalyst, the city-owned project and entertainment district, will cost about $832 million, which will go toward three ice rinks, a hotel and a water park, among other costs; and Cascadia, the private residential and commercial area owned by The Water Valley Company. A Greeley City Council meeting held Sept. 2 had a lengthy public comment period, mainly focused on the Catalyst Greeley West project, that lasted for nearly an hour. Many who...
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Lone Tree residents push back on 343-home development proposal
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Fox31, Approved, Local

Lone Tree residents push back on 343-home development proposal

By Maddie Rhodes | Fox 31 DENVER (KDVR) — Many locals are worried about open space land after the city of Lone Tree announced a proposal to build hundreds of homes on land west of Interstate 25. The City of Lone Tree Government said staff are currently reviewing a proposal from Brookfield Residential and RidgeGate Investments for the “Mesa Tops” residential project, which would build a 343-home neighborhood on 392 acres of mesa land on the southern edge of Lone Tree.Traffic backs up after 80K pound construction equipment falls on I-25 The city posted the plans on Facebook for a residential project west of I-25. While this plan is currently just a proposal, many locals have already raised some concerns about the potential development in Lone Tree. The city said this project...
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After months of Littleton outages, Xcel says it found the problem
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Fox31, Approved, Local

After months of Littleton outages, Xcel says it found the problem

By Nicole Fierro | Fox 31 LITTLETON, Colo. (KDVR) — Power outage problems have been plaguing thousands in Littleton this summer, but the cause is finally known. Last week, FOX31 shared the stories of neighbors and business owners who reached out to the Problem Solvers for help after dealing with seven power outages since June.  Now, Xcel Energy is sharing what exactly went wrong and how the company is working to prevent the issue in the future. “When we had three (outages) in August, we knew that something was wrong,” Xcel Regional Vice President Gilbert Salazar said. “All the vegetation management had been done. We replaced an underground cable completely. The line had been patrolled numerous times. That’s when we identified all the work that we’ve done isn’t gett...
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