The BLDRfly podcast features conversations with the people shaping the future in + from Boulder.
In this BLDRfly episode, we speak with Boulder Mayor Pro Tem Bob Yates about COVID-19’s growing, significant on city services and what’s shaping up to be a long recovery.
Last week, the city furloughed 737 employees through June 30, based on a projected 2020 dip of $28 million in sales tax revenue, which makes up over half of the city’s budget (outside of utility revenue). Once predicted by the city financial staff as a worst-case scenario, that drop now may present a best-case scenario.
Bob talks on the podcast about how his city council colleagues, city staff and the Boulder community are starting conversations about the vulnerabilities in current city government structure that hamper response during a crisis, such as the current pandemic.
The city will explore reducing its large reliance on sales tax revenue, which presents a more volatile revenue base than other sources, such as property taxes, and proposing giving the city more flexibility to use tax revenue now locked in specific funds. Bob also addressed some of these issues in his latest newsletter.
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