6 AUGUST 20-26, 2026 westword.com WESTWORD | MUSIC | CAFE | CULTURE | NIGHT+DAY | NEWS | LETTERS | CONTENTS | explains, “and you have less revenue coming in, is sort of like a perfect storm.” That stagnation started to rear its ugly head in late 2024, according to Swartz. “Where we had been projecting 3% or 4% revenue growth for 2025, what we actu- ally started to see was things were coming in much closer to fl at. And it wasn’t just Denver,” she notes. “This was something happening across the U.S.” There’s also the state Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights (TABOR), which restricts the budget process by capping how much tax revenue the city can collect and retain each year based strictly on local infl ation and popula- tion growth. Lopez says the defi cit isn’t a unique prob- lem for Denver, as other major cities grapple with similar economic challenges, but there are two ways for a city to dig itself out: cut services, or grow in population and increase tax revenue. And while the city is making big cuts, it is only seeing a small population jump. Denver is projected to have around 747,000 residents in 2026, up from 726,000 in 2023. Some of the mayor’s initiatives to stimulate growth include the recently created Den- ver Jobs Agenda, which looks to use $100 million to create 10,000 downtown jobs by 2029. Mostly funded by local partners and the Denver Downtown Development Authority, the plan aims to strengthen workforce devel- opment and make downtown offi ces more attractive to businesses. In 2024, the Down- town Development Authority’s jurisdiction and tax-collecting authority were expanded in an effort to generate $570 million to help revitalize the area through bonds that will be paid back with future tax revenue. And 16th Street, once a cornerstone of downtown, has been revitalized after years of construction. Other projects around Denver should also spur the local economy, Swartz adds. “Downtown is one of our most signifi cant economic engines in the city,” she says. “You’re seeing things like the investments into the Broncos and Burnham Yard, the Denver Sum- mit team, a lot of investments out in National Western Center — areas that help really drive the Denver economy. And those catalytic investments are part of our long-term plan.” In the meantime, Denver residents are facing the reality of fewer city services and initiatives. Transportation and Infrastructure Denver’s Department of Transportation and Infrastructure (DOTI) funding saw the big- gest drop, with $21.3 million cut from 2025 to 2026, or 17.7%. The department suffered the largest number of layoffs across all city departments last summer, as well, losing 31 employees and eliminating 108 vacant positions. “As planned, amid budget reductions and layoffs, we worked to ensure our residents did not feel the impacts. Internally, we orga- nized ourselves to prioritize core services to minimize effects on our customers,” DOTI spokesperson Nancy Kuhn tells Westword. Some residents still feel affected, however. “We’ve seen that safer infrastructure keeps getting canceled and pared back and ripped out,” resident and cyclist Nolan Hahn says. “We actually just did a memorial for a kid killed at 38th and Tejon. That area was supposed to get better bike infrastructure, and it got canceled. And so he could still be alive if that project had just gone through as it was planned.” Hahn speaks of 21-year-old Salih Koç, an international student from Turkey who was struck and killed at the intersection in July 2025. Plans for a protected bike lane in the area were canceled because of pushback from local businesses, not direct budget cuts, but both Hahn and mobility advocate Alejandra X. Castañeda see Koç’s death as a sign of less involvement by the city. “Every time something like this hap- pens — when a project gets pushed back, the money dries up or is used for some other purpose and then someone dies — we know what the problems are. Every time we ask for safety infrastructure, we’re told there’s not enough money. And it is just kind of a cycle,” says Castañeda, a vocal proponent for bicycle and pedestrian safety funding at the city level. Former Mayor Michael Hancock cre- ated DOTI’s Vision Zero initiative in 2017 to eliminate all traffi c-related fatalities and serious bodily injuries by 2030. This includes bicyclists and pedestrians, and has led to 27 miles of new bikeways a year between 2018 and 2023, according to Kuhn. Still, 36 pedestrians and fi ve cyclists were killed by vehicles in 2025. In 2017, when the plan was created, there were 14 pedestrian fatalities and one cyclist death, according to the Vision Zero dashboard. Kuhn says the department created 20 miles of “slow and safe streets” with bike lanes in 2025 and is on track to install another 18 miles in 2026, but the lack of funds worries Castañeda going forward. The bike lane on Tejon Street, where Koç died, will now be a painted bike lane instead of a protected bike lane; Castañeda says DOTI told her a protected lane would be too expensive. She’s upset that DOTI has removed plastic fl exible poles on other bike lanes, as well, often replacing them with speed cushions and small dividers. Local bicyclists were unhappy with the move, including the Denver Bike Lobby. “There’s never money for safety, but there’s money to remove safety things,” Castañeda says. Castañeda is also frustrated by the move- ment of $8.4 million from the Transportation and Mobility Special Revenue Fund in the 2026 budget toward parking enforcement and operations. The fund was initially cre- ated in 2021 and came from the doubling of city parking meters from $1 to $2. When they were introduced, the funds were supposed to go to Vision Zero projects. In 2026, over half of the special revenue fund went to right-of-way enforcement, park- ing operations and a rebuilt parking ticket dis- pute system, Councilwoman Shontel Lewis said during a July 27 policy meeting. In response to an inquiry about fund al- location in 2026, DOTI sent the following statement: “DOTI approached the 2026 budget with a focus on prioritizing its most essential services to Denver residents. Our budget delivered funding for core services such as solid waste collection, transportation, city- wide infrastructure, right-of-way services and public works to ensure a minimized impact to customers while maximizing em- ployee effi ciency.” Hahn argues that the right-of-way en- forcement hasn’t improved, though. In fact, it was his biggest complaint about the budget cuts, adding another stressor for cyclists when cars are illegally parked in areas of low visibility. “It’s frustrating, as a cyclist, to be con- stantly accused of breaking traffi c laws all the time, and then watch people in 4,000-pound vehicles break traffi c laws all the time,” he says. And the ticketing dispute system? On Aug. 14, DOTI announced it will relaunch online on Monday, Sept. 14, but fi ghting a parking ticket has been a can of worms for almost a year now. Ticket Times Blair Ilsley received a $35 parking ticket in May even though she wasn’t supposed to. Although Ilsely had parked in a two-hour- only zone, she also had a Vehicle Specifi c Parking Permit, or an annual pass that lets her park outside of her house despite hourly restrictions. “I thought, ‘Oh, no big deal. This will get sorted. I have a permit. They know I have a permit,’” she says. “I was sorely mistaken.” When Ilsely called the city’s right-of- way enforcement The ghost bike memorial for Salih Koç, a cyclist who was hit and killed at 38th and Tejon in 2025. Mayor Mike Johnston presented a $1.67 billion 2026 budget that doesn’t leave much room for improvements back in 2025. SAGE KELEY BENNITO L. KELT Y continued on page 8 News continued from page 4
