Aurora City Council Special Study Session: 2027 Budget Presentations, September 10, 2026

The Aurora City Council held a special study session on September 10, 2026, to receive presentations from three citizen advisory bodies and the city manager's proposed 2027 budget. The session was informational; no formal votes were taken. The raw transcript labels the meeting Wednesday, September 9, but the stated meeting date is September 10, 2026.

Citizens Advisory Budget Committee (CABC)

• Janet Marlowe, 2026 CABC chair, reported that the committee meets monthly, reviewed the proposed 2027 budget at a July 21-22 workshop, supports the proposed budget as presented, and previously provided a letter supporting Build Up Aurora.
• Jim Mattson presented the PROS revenue-generation subcommittee report. It recommended continuing to outsource services, aligning fees with facility quality and inflation, using food trucks at city venues for vending, and pursuing naming rights and sponsorships through a contract with library and cultural services; PROS leadership expects naming-rights revenue to start in fiscal year 2028.
• George Peck presented the library and arts subcommittee report, which reiterated the need for a multi-purpose arts and entertainment venue, recommended a dedicated arts/venues leadership position and a phased approach, and stated Aurora is an underserved market. The subcommittee expressed total support for Build Up Aurora.
• Council discussion included support for outsourcing examples, a request for consistent food-truck fees across venues, interest in naming-rights partnerships, and a request for a big-picture look at PROS resource needs. City Manager Jason Bachelor said staff would provide food-truck arrangement details and respond to the requested analysis.

Housing and Community Development (CHCD) HUD Budget

• CHCD chair Natasha Dana and staff member Sarah Pulleum presented the proposed 2027 U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) budget totaling $5,010,955 across CDBG, HOME, and ESG funding. Proposed uses include affordable housing, home repair, public services, housing and financial counseling, homeownership, foreclosure prevention, homeless response and prevention, rapid rehousing, street outreach, emergency shelter, and supportive services.
• Dana said residents closest to community challenges should help shape solutions and that CHCD is advisory, making funding recommendations rather than final decisions.
• In response to Councilmember Hancock, staff said annual Consolidated Annual Performance Evaluation Report (CAPER) outcomes are filed with HUD, posted on the city website, and would be shared with council.

Citizens Water Advisory Commission (CWAC)

• Dick Easton, CWAC chair, said the commission unanimously supported the proposed 2027 water budget, rates, and fees after an August 5 presentation from Aurora Water staff.
• The proposed increases include an overall water rate increase of 3.87%, varying from 0% for hydrant use to 14% for irrigation; residential rates up 3.5% in all four tiers; sewer and stormwater rates up 6.5%; fire protection rates unchanged. Water and stormwater development fees increase 5%; sewer connection fees do not increase. CWAC supports the growth-pays-for-growth principle, and about 80% of the water development fee supports future water resources.
• The water fund summary included $276.8 million in planned revenues and $375.2 million in capital investment; the wastewater fund summary included $133.1 million in planned revenues and $163.1 million in planned expenditures. The five-year capital plan totals $2.37 billion for 2027-2031, with top priorities including Wild Horse Reservoir, Prairie Waters expansion, direct potable reuse, the Rampart delivery system, water rights/storage, treatment/transmission/distribution improvements, lead service line replacement, and SCADA/cybersecurity.
• CWAC recommended maintaining Stage One drought restrictions until storage conditions improve, continuing investment in water reliability, removing barriers to drought-tolerant landscaping such as Tahoma 31, and finding sustainable funding for Aurora Water Cares. Marshall Brown said converting Kentucky bluegrass to Tahoma 31 uses 60-70% less water, and the city is working to simplify permits and rebates.

City Manager's Proposed 2027 Budget

• City Manager Jason Bachelor said the 2027 general fund faces about a $20 million shortfall, addressed through $10.2 million in expenditure cuts, $1.8 million in new revenue, and $7.3 million in available fund balances. The plan includes no layoffs, eliminates 9 vacant FTEs, freezes 8 additional FTEs, continues the 25% travel/training reduction, and uses five furlough days for non-24/7 employees, saving about $500,000 per day.
• Budget Director Greg Hayes reported all-fund revenues of $1.8 billion, all-fund appropriations of $1.5 billion, and general fund revenues of $567.6 million. Sales taxes are 58% of general fund revenue; with use taxes, about two-thirds of general fund revenue comes from purchases. He said the recession forecast shifted from V-shaped to U-shaped, causing the 2027 shortfall, and projected a remaining 2028 shortfall of about $13.1 million.
• Current reserves include $79.8 million in ending fund balance; the recession reserve is at about 54% after two years of use. July 2026 sales tax was up 2.6% compared with a 13.9% increase in July 2025, a better-than-budgeted month.
• Citywide staffing is a net zero position add in the proposed budget; public safety remains over 50% of general fund appropriations. Public safety balancing includes moving some costs to the E911 fund, moving $1.7 million of police general fund costs to the designated revenue fund offset by photo radar, and transferring one FTE from police to Aurora Fire Rescue for a SWAT medic.
• Municipal court, judicial, public defender, city attorney, civil service, and public safety accountability budgets were reviewed. Judge Day said the court is reducing from about $4.8 million to $4.2 million, roughly a 10% cut, by not filling three positions and closing a division while absorbing about 10,000 new vehicle-registration cases. Several council members, including Councilmember Hancock, objected or expressed concern that the cuts would harm court customer service and staff workload.
• Laura Perry presented PROS, capital projects, and development review funds. Development applications are down 11%, single-family permits down 3%, renovation permits down 37%, and the development review fund projects a $5.9 million deficit. Balancing includes increasing the residential roof permit flat fee from $254 to $350, reducing contracted services, shifting $980,000 of staffing and drainage review costs to Aurora Water, and reallocating cross-trained staff.
• Roberto Venegas reported the new animal shelter is under construction, on time and on budget, with opening expected in the first quarter of 2028. The Navigation Center serves 200-300 people nightly, with regional referral discussions underway. The marijuana tax revenue fund saw its first monthly increase in 58 months, but the 2027 budget assumes continued decline and absorbs the state share-back elimination.
• Marshall Brown reported water enterprise capital spending is dominated by Wild Horse Reservoir, Prairie Waters/direct potable reuse, and treatment plant renewal. Water is proposing seven temporary-to-permanent FTE conversions at a net cost of $50,000, $22.5 million for SCADA/cybersecurity enhancements, and additional cybersecurity software funding.

Key Outcomes

• No formal council votes were taken during the study session.
• CABC and CWAC expressed support for the proposed 2027 budgets; CHCD presented its HUD funding recommendations.
• Staff committed to follow up on food-truck/vending arrangements, PROS resource needs, outside counsel spending, development review fee competitiveness, civil service cost breakdowns, CAPER reports, simplified Tahoma 31 and rebate processes, and a federal marijuana reclassification update.
• Next steps: a public hearing on September 14, a Saturday budget workshop on October 3, written responses to council questions before the workshop, and budget adoption ordinances in late October or early November.