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 2025/2026 Biennium, together with the multi-year Capital Program, is presented in accordance with Chapter 11 of the Home Rule Charter. 

The development of the 2025/2026 Biennial Budget is in alignment with City 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(PDF, 1MB) 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 2025-2026 budget was approved by City Council on November 19, 2024 via Resolution 2024-R-49(PDF, 214KB) with minor updates from the Proposed Budget.

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.

2025 - 2026 Adopted Budget(PDF, 14MB) - 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.

Introduction and Overview(PDF, 2MB) - An introduction and overview of the Budget Book. 

Strategic Planning & Performance(PDF, 1MB) - Overview of the City’s long term goals and how the goals relate within the overall City plan.

Revenue Manual(PDF, 4MB) - Serves as a comprehensive guide for the City’s major revenue sources. It categorizes revenues by fund, provides descriptions of each source, and includes relevant data visualizations for major revenues.

Financial Summaries(PDF, 5MB) - Information on fund balance, total financial sources and total financial uses for all City funds.

Capital Projects(PDF, 2MB) - Program overview, project descriptions and anticipated future planning for projects within the Street Fund, Capital Improvement Fund and Open Space Fund.

Appendix(PDF, 19MB) - Glossary, Acronyms, Resolutions, City Manager Authorized Expenditures, Purchasing Policy, Financial Policies.

Archived Budgets

All documents below contain dated information for historical reference only.

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 City Council which is delivered to Council by September 20 of each year. Budget workshops are held to review the proposed budget prior to Council's consideration of the annual budget by December 15, as outlined in the City's Home Rule Charter.

Additionally, Centennial has a Budget Committee, responsible for studying all phases of the budget and making recommendations and reports to City Council. 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.

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