Mayor Johnston Announces Vibrant Denver Bond
Published on February 12, 2025
Denver to engage communities in 2025 to help shape project list
DENVER, CO — Mayor Mike Johnston announced today a city initiative to pursue a new general obligation bond (GO) program in 2025, known as the Vibrant Denver Bond Program, to fund public improvements across the city without raising taxes and with a vote of the people.
GO bond programs are used to fund new public parks, recreation centers, libraries, arts and cultural venues, roads, bridges, police stations, and other public facilities, as well as to maintain and improve existing facilities. Cities across the U.S., including Denver, use GO bonds to deliver the world-class infrastructure residents deserve.
“The Vibrant Denver bond package allows us to come together to decide our priorities for our neighborhoods and families,” said Mayor Johnston. “This bond will help us build the Denver of the future, without raising taxes, while also ensuring the protection and preservation of critical infrastructure already in place. It also will allow us to control our own destiny by creating a local funding source for needed local projects.”
Since 2017, the city has completed nearly 400 projects across Denver funded by bonds. Recent projects include a new wing of the Denver Art Museum, an animal hospital for the Denver Zoo, a new stage roof at Red Rocks, a new playground at City Park, an indoor pool with a kids’ play area at Green Valley Ranch recreation center, improvements to 14 libraries, upgrades to more than 50 parks and 22 recreation centers (including the future new Westwood Recreation Center), updated equipment at police and fire stations across Denver, and a new fire station being built in northeast Denver, among many other projects.
Denver’s current bond programs are nearly complete, creating capacity for new projects under the Vibrant Denver bond program without raising taxes.
"In North Denver over the past several years, we’ve seen improvements to recreation centers, parks, fire stations, libraries, playgrounds, and less noticeable but equally important infrastructure like irrigation, street repairs, and bridges. Almost all of the infrastructure we rely on daily is built or maintained through our bond programs—critical investments that do not raise taxes but create lasting, tangible benefits for our communities," said City Council President Amanda P. Sandoval. "General Obligation Bonds allow us to build and maintain the spaces that define our city, ensuring Denver’s legacy of strong, community-driven infrastructure continues for generations to come. The 2017 GO Bond included funding for pedestrian safety improvements along Federal Boulevard, an issue I advocated for, to make one of our city's busiest corridors safer for everyone. I look forward to working with residents to shape our next bond program and invest in the future of our neighborhoods."
If approved by voters in November, the Vibrant Denver Bond Program would deliver investments in Denver neighborhoods within six years.
Denver residents will be involved at every stage of development of this bond program. As part of the planning process, city staff will engage communities to help create and refine the list of projects to be funded by the bond program. The city will use the 2025-2030 Capital Improvement Plan to guide this work. Opportunities to engage include attending community meetings and submitting project ideas via online surveys. Surveys will also be available at recreation centers and libraries citywide. Community-led committees will review the public input as well as city recommendations from the Capital Improvement Plan and will use these to help refine project lists before the final list is considered by Denver City Council this summer.
About Denver GO Bonds
General obligation (GO) bonds are a long-term debt instrument issued by state or local governments to fund public capital improvement projects such as roads, bridges, bikeways, public facilities and parks. This includes restoring, replacing and expanding existing capital assets. Local GO bond programs are authorized by Denver voters every 4-10 years and repaid through property taxes. Denver’s previous bond programs include Elevate Denver, a 10-year, $937 million general obligation bond program approved by voters in 2017, and RISE Denver, a five-year, $260 million general obligation bond program approved by voters in 2021. For more information, visit denvergov.org/gobonds.
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About the Denver Department of Finance
Committed to being the best financially managed city and county in the nation, the Department of Finance (DOF) unifies the financial and accounting functions of the City and County of Denver and provides residents easy access to key financial data through Transparent Denver. DOF is divided into the Office of the CFO and seven divisions, including the Assessor’s Office, Controller’s Office, Budget and Management Office, Capital Planning and Real Estate, Cash and Capital Funding, Risk Management and Worker’s Compensation, and Treasury. For more information, visit Denvergov.org/finance.