City Budget
The City's Adopted Budget is a legal document giving the City authority to spend public funds.
For the Centennial community, a budget serves as a communications and operations guide for the City by detailing strategic projects, service levels and programs that fulfill the policy direction of City Council. The Budget for the 2023/2024 Biennium, together with the multi-year Capital Program, is presented in accordance with Chapter 11 of the Home Rule Charter. This is the first year the City has undertaken a biennial budget process which will assist in long-term and strategic aspects of budgeting and will better complement the City's long-term strategic plan, Capital Improvement Program and other long-term planning tools.
The development of the 2023/2024 Biennial Budget is in alignment with Council’s strategic goals and direction, community needs and priorities, and the operational needs of the City organization to accomplish those goals.
Each fund in the budget is balanced, as required by the Centennial Home Rule Charter and the Colorado Local Government Budget Law. The adoption of the budget and subsequent appropriation of funds positions the City to operate efficiently and effectively in delivering services to provide exceptional service to our community.
View the Budget
The 2024 City Manager's Proposed Budget(PDF, 14MB) for the second year of the 2023-24 Biennium was presented to Council on September 19 and is now available. The upcoming Budget Workshop on October 10 will provide additional perspective on the opportunities and challenges that face Centennial.
Overall, this Proposed Budget represents the continuation of the workplan adopted last year. Several capital projects and major initiatives begun in 2023 will continue into 2024. The Proposed Budget contains the original 2024 costs (prepared in 2022) as well as any updated costs prepared as part of this year’s process, shown side-by-side.
Click the appropriate tab below to view the following budget information:
- Adopted Budget - displays links to the current City budget
- Archived City Budgets - displays City budgets from prior years
Adopted Budget
View pdf files of the individual sections below.
2023 - 2024 Adopted Budget(PDF, 22MB) - This file may take a while to download due to size. To see individual sections of the budget, use the links below.
Budget Guide(PDF, 1MB) - A brief guide to each section of the Budget Book including the Table of Contents.
Strategic Planning & Performance(PDF, 2MB) - Overview of the City’s long term goals and how the goals relate within the overall City plan.
Financial Summaries(PDF, 6MB) - Information on fund balance, total financial sources and total financial uses for all City funds.
Revenue Manual(PDF, 10MB) - Information on the City’s major revenue sources.
Capital Projects(PDF, 5MB) - Program overview, project descriptions and anticipated future planning for projects within the Street Fund, Capital Improvement Fund and Open Space Fund.
Appendix(PDF, 9MB) - Glossary, Acronyms, Resolutions, City Manager Authorized Expenditures, Purchasing Policy, Financial Policies.
Budget Process
The budget process is an ongoing effort of planning, considering resources, monitoring of revenues and expenses and policy review. The City Manager is responsible for developing and recommending a proposed budget to Council. The proposed budget is delivered to Council by September 20 of each year. Budget workshops are held to review the proposed budget. The City Council considers the annual budget by December 15, as outlined in the City's Home Rule Charter.
Centennial also has a Budget Committee, responsible for studying all phases of the budget and making recommendations and reports to City Council about these studies. The Budget Committee includes the Mayor, one Council Member, three citizen representatives, the City Manager and the Finance Director.
The budget is a matter of public record and is open to the public for inspection. Prior to adoption, a public hearing on the budget is held.
Revenue Manual
The Revenue Manual(PDF, 10MB) is intended to provide City Council, Staff and the community a comprehensive guide of the City’s major revenue sources. Within this manual, readers will find the City’s revenue sources categorized by fund, a description of each revenue and pertinent data visualizations for major revenue sources.
Additionally, this document is designed to educate readers on the types of revenues the City receives, how they are collected, for what purpose they are intended and the financial forecast of each revenue.