City Of Denver 2022 Budget Nears Pre-Pandemic Levels

DENVER (CBS4)- Denver Mayor Michael Hancock unveiled the city's 2022 budget Wednesday morning. He said it's close to pre-pandemic levels.

The City of Denver anticipates revenues of $1.485 billion next year. That's just below 2020 projections.

Part of the focus will be on rebuilding the emergency reserves which were spent to keep services open during the pandemic.

Affordable housing continues to be a priority as well as developing the workforce. The budget is based on revenues, bonds, grants and federal recovery act money.

"This fiscally responsible budget will help sustain our recovery, support thousands of new jobs and job training programs, stimulate our economy, keep our residents and neighborhoods safe and put new programs into place to improve services for our vulnerable residents and it does all of this by investing in our people and putting their recovery first and foremost," said Hancock.

Hancock did say leisure and hospitality industries continue to lag in the recovery, but still expects revenue growth of 9% this year, mostly from sales and use taxes.