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City Budget Watch

For more than 70 years, the City of Loveland has been a full-service City working to keep our community vibrant, healthy and safe. The City’s budget process ensures that Loveland can provide exceptional service levels and allows for investment in infrastructure that will benefit our community for years to come. We take pride in effectively managing public funds, ensuring that every dollar is spent wisely and in the best interest of the community.

How the City Gets Its Revenue

The City receives funds from sources such as sales and use taxes, licenses and permits, charges for services, interest income and more.

The General Fund supports services provided by the police, fire rescue, public works, library, parks and recreation, cultural services and more. Sales tax is the largest source of General Fund revenue.
The City’s Enterprise Funds support services like water, wastewater, stormwater, power, solid waste and golf. Enterprise Funds are dedicated funds supported through user fees. Just like a business, user fees fund the operation, maintenance and capital projects necessary to provide the service. Only people who pay for these services receive the benefit of these services.
Special Revenue Funds are dedicated funds established by federal or state law, or by municipal ordinance or resolution. Each has its own specific revenue source, such as the countywide Open Lands Sales Tax, which can only be used to support that specific service.

Of these three major fund types, both Enterprise and Special Revenue Funds are dedicated funds, which means they cannot be legally used for anything other than their dedicated purpose.

Changes in Sales Tax Revenue

During the 2023 Coordinated Election, Loveland citizens voted to eliminate the sales tax on food for home consumption, resulting in a projected $13.2 million negative impact only to the City’s General Fund. This loss in revenue impacts the City’s ability to maintain its current service levels.

Stay in the Know

Stay tuned to this webpage to learn more about the City’s budget, ask questions and find helpful resources as the City navigates budget options for 2024 and planning for the 2025 Budget.

For more than 70 years, the City of Loveland has been a full-service City working to keep our community vibrant, healthy and safe. The City’s budget process ensures that Loveland can provide exceptional service levels and allows for investment in infrastructure that will benefit our community for years to come. We take pride in effectively managing public funds, ensuring that every dollar is spent wisely and in the best interest of the community.

How the City Gets Its Revenue

The City receives funds from sources such as sales and use taxes, licenses and permits, charges for services, interest income and more.

The General Fund supports services provided by the police, fire rescue, public works, library, parks and recreation, cultural services and more. Sales tax is the largest source of General Fund revenue.
The City’s Enterprise Funds support services like water, wastewater, stormwater, power, solid waste and golf. Enterprise Funds are dedicated funds supported through user fees. Just like a business, user fees fund the operation, maintenance and capital projects necessary to provide the service. Only people who pay for these services receive the benefit of these services.
Special Revenue Funds are dedicated funds established by federal or state law, or by municipal ordinance or resolution. Each has its own specific revenue source, such as the countywide Open Lands Sales Tax, which can only be used to support that specific service.

Of these three major fund types, both Enterprise and Special Revenue Funds are dedicated funds, which means they cannot be legally used for anything other than their dedicated purpose.

Changes in Sales Tax Revenue

During the 2023 Coordinated Election, Loveland citizens voted to eliminate the sales tax on food for home consumption, resulting in a projected $13.2 million negative impact only to the City’s General Fund. This loss in revenue impacts the City’s ability to maintain its current service levels.

Stay in the Know

Stay tuned to this webpage to learn more about the City’s budget, ask questions and find helpful resources as the City navigates budget options for 2024 and planning for the 2025 Budget.

Question and Answer

Have a question about the City’s budget, sales tax or something else? Ask it below and we'll follow-up shortly!

Share As a property tax payer in Loveland, why are we in a crisis when property taxes increased dramatically and we lost taxes on food items? Did we spend all our increases and not plan for any decreases? on Facebook Share As a property tax payer in Loveland, why are we in a crisis when property taxes increased dramatically and we lost taxes on food items? Did we spend all our increases and not plan for any decreases? on Twitter Share As a property tax payer in Loveland, why are we in a crisis when property taxes increased dramatically and we lost taxes on food items? Did we spend all our increases and not plan for any decreases? on Linkedin Email As a property tax payer in Loveland, why are we in a crisis when property taxes increased dramatically and we lost taxes on food items? Did we spend all our increases and not plan for any decreases? link

As a property tax payer in Loveland, why are we in a crisis when property taxes increased dramatically and we lost taxes on food items? Did we spend all our increases and not plan for any decreases?

Tom asked 21 days ago

Hi Tom, that’s a great question, and you’re right—property taxes did increase this year. However, sales tax is the primary source of revenue for the City’s General Fund.
It might also be helpful to know that only about 12% of your property taxes go to the City (that’s the green chunk of the pie shown below).
Starting in 2024, we’re projecting a multi-million dollar ongoing revenue loss to the City’s General Fund, which exceeds the expected $2.4 million increase to City revenue from higher property taxes. Most of the increased property taxes will benefit Larimer County and the Thompson School District.
For a clearer picture of how this works and how property taxes are allocated, you might consider watching our video explaining property taxes. Several other helpful documents are under the “Documents” section of this webpage.
City Staff aim to create a balanced budget each year (meaning that our City plans to not spend more than the revenue we expect to receive), reflecting our commitment to fiscal responsibility.
We appreciate your questions, and hopefully that information helps! Please let us know if we can help answer anything else.

property taxes
property taxes
Share "During the 2023 Coordinated Election, Loveland citizens voted to eliminate the sales tax on food for home consumption, resulting in a projected $13.2 million negative impact only to the City’s General Fund. This loss in revenue impacts the City’s ability to maintain its current service levels." On the above - I am looking for specifics on where the city sees having to cut services? I was not able to fund anything specific on what services the shortfall is predicted to impact. Thanks! on Facebook Share "During the 2023 Coordinated Election, Loveland citizens voted to eliminate the sales tax on food for home consumption, resulting in a projected $13.2 million negative impact only to the City’s General Fund. This loss in revenue impacts the City’s ability to maintain its current service levels." On the above - I am looking for specifics on where the city sees having to cut services? I was not able to fund anything specific on what services the shortfall is predicted to impact. Thanks! on Twitter Share "During the 2023 Coordinated Election, Loveland citizens voted to eliminate the sales tax on food for home consumption, resulting in a projected $13.2 million negative impact only to the City’s General Fund. This loss in revenue impacts the City’s ability to maintain its current service levels." On the above - I am looking for specifics on where the city sees having to cut services? I was not able to fund anything specific on what services the shortfall is predicted to impact. Thanks! on Linkedin Email "During the 2023 Coordinated Election, Loveland citizens voted to eliminate the sales tax on food for home consumption, resulting in a projected $13.2 million negative impact only to the City’s General Fund. This loss in revenue impacts the City’s ability to maintain its current service levels." On the above - I am looking for specifics on where the city sees having to cut services? I was not able to fund anything specific on what services the shortfall is predicted to impact. Thanks! link

"During the 2023 Coordinated Election, Loveland citizens voted to eliminate the sales tax on food for home consumption, resulting in a projected $13.2 million negative impact only to the City’s General Fund. This loss in revenue impacts the City’s ability to maintain its current service levels." On the above - I am looking for specifics on where the city sees having to cut services? I was not able to fund anything specific on what services the shortfall is predicted to impact. Thanks!

zjory asked 26 days ago

Hi there, thanks so much for your question! City leaders are currently taking a comprehensive look at programs, services, and functions that the City of Loveland provides in priority order, examining what is mission-critical, and finding reductions. It’s a task that Acting City Manager Rod Wensing is hopeful the team will complete over the next several weeks. Find more information about how leaders are working to identify funding priorities.
At this time, no official decisions have been made in terms of impacts. The City Manager's Office and Finance Departments are scheduled to provide an update to City Council during the Tuesday, April 30 special meeting which will better inform your question regarding possible reductions. Be on the lookout for more information and details on how to attend the meeting when the April 30th agenda is posted to CivicWeb in the coming weeks. We’ll also provide updates to the “News Feed” section of this webpage following that meeting.

impacts,priorities
impacts priorities
Share I don’t have a question. Merely a suggestion. Cities surrounding Loveland are collecting revenue from marijuana sales. Yet Loveland refuses to explore this alternative. I don’t use any such products, however I don’t understand the unwillingness to use this resource. I will vote against any tax increase until this has been explored. . on Facebook Share I don’t have a question. Merely a suggestion. Cities surrounding Loveland are collecting revenue from marijuana sales. Yet Loveland refuses to explore this alternative. I don’t use any such products, however I don’t understand the unwillingness to use this resource. I will vote against any tax increase until this has been explored. . on Twitter Share I don’t have a question. Merely a suggestion. Cities surrounding Loveland are collecting revenue from marijuana sales. Yet Loveland refuses to explore this alternative. I don’t use any such products, however I don’t understand the unwillingness to use this resource. I will vote against any tax increase until this has been explored. . on Linkedin Email I don’t have a question. Merely a suggestion. Cities surrounding Loveland are collecting revenue from marijuana sales. Yet Loveland refuses to explore this alternative. I don’t use any such products, however I don’t understand the unwillingness to use this resource. I will vote against any tax increase until this has been explored. . link

I don’t have a question. Merely a suggestion. Cities surrounding Loveland are collecting revenue from marijuana sales. Yet Loveland refuses to explore this alternative. I don’t use any such products, however I don’t understand the unwillingness to use this resource. I will vote against any tax increase until this has been explored. .

Velta asked 14 days ago

Hi there, thanks so much for your question and for sharing your perspective! We appreciate your input on exploring the potential revenue from marijuana sales, a topic that has indeed captured the attention of the Loveland City Council recently. At their request, City staff presented on the potential impacts of marijuana dispensaries in Loveland earlier this month (you can watch a recording and find resources from the April 9, 2024, meeting here).
You may be interested to know that although Colorado voters approved medical marijuana in 2000 and legalized recreational use in 2012, proposals to allow and tax medical and retail marijuana establishments have been repeatedly rejected by voters in Loveland, most recently in 2019. Given the ongoing debate among our residents and the complex regulatory landscape at both the federal and state levels, the City is committed to approaching this issue with thorough consideration and careful planning.
We hope you stay connected on this topic moving forward, but please let us know if you have any additional questions we can help with in the meantime.

marijuana,tax increase
marijuana tax increase

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Page last updated: 02 May 2024, 12:45 PM