Budget Explorer · City of Colorado Springs
Comparable revenue, spending, and debt for City of Colorado Springs, on the same Census classification used for every city, county, and state in the Library — so the figures line up with peers rather than with the government's own budget book. Latest year: FY ending Dec 31, 2023. City of Colorado Springs's own 2026 budget, in its own structure, follows below.
Total revenue
$1.85B
$3,812 per resident
Total spending
$2.29B
$4,710 per resident
Spending per resident
$4,710
63rd percentile of 71
Debt outstanding
$2.73B
$5,614 per resident · 66th percentile of 70
Own-source share
90%
92nd percentile of 71
Capital share
42%
99th percentile of 71
Own-source revenue (taxes, charges, interest) versus aid from other governments. Utility and trust revenue are shown alongside general revenue but run on their own books.
Own-source share of general revenue 90% · federal aid 9% · property tax is 12% of taxes
Current operations plus capital outlay, grouped by Census function. Interest on debt and transfers to other governments are broken out so they are not hidden inside services.
| Function | Category | Operating | Capital | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Electric utility | Utilities (water, power, gas) | $334M | $501M | $835M |
| Water utility | Utilities (water, power, gas) | $118M | $201M | $319M |
| Gas utility | Utilities (water, power, gas) | $187M | $37M | $223M |
| General (unallocable) | General government | $123M | $91M | $214M |
| Police protection | Public safety | $129M | $2.0M | $131M |
| Highways | Transportation | $31M | $66M | $98M |
| Fire protection | Public safety | $70M | $535K | $71M |
| Financial administration | General government | $50M | $11M | $61M |
| Sewerage | Environment & housing | $44M | $7.6M | $52M |
| Air transportation | Transportation | $26M | $19M | $45M |
| Central staff services | General government | $42M | — | $42M |
| Parks & recreation | Culture & recreation | $20M | $16M | $36M |
| Housing & community development | Environment & housing | $18M | $16M | $34M |
| Judicial & legal | General government | $14M | — | $14M |
Nominal dollars. The Census Bureau cautions that single-government series are edited only for aggregates — read direction, not decimals.
Revenue
-2% over 2 yrs
$1.90B → $1.85B
Spending
+41% over 2 yrs
$1.62B → $2.29B
Debt outstanding
+8% over 2 yrs
$2.53B → $2.73B
Percentile within the cohort on each place's latest Census year. Higher is not better — the last column says what a high reading means so you can decide whether it matters here.
| Measure | City of Colorado Springs | Cohort median | Percentile | Higher means |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Spending per resident | $4,710 | $3,741 | 63rd | more spent per resident |
| Revenue per resident | $3,812 | $3,548 | 57th | more raised per resident |
| Taxes per resident | $836 | $1,328 | 16th | heavier own-tax load |
| Debt per resident | $5,614 | $3,865 | 66th | more borrowed per resident |
| Own-source share of revenue | 90% | 81% | 92nd | less dependent on aid |
| Federal aid share of revenue | 9% | 7% | 65th | more exposed to federal cuts |
| Capital share of spending | 42% | 18% | 99th | more building, less operating |
| Interest share of spending | 4% | 4% | 57th | more spend servicing debt |
| Debt ÷ annual revenue | 1.47× | 1.05× | 72nd | more leveraged |
Spot an error, or know a better source for this place's adopted budget? Suggest an edit on the assessment.
Adopted budget · 2026
City of Colorado Springs's own budget, in its own structure, read from its published budget book and checked against the total the document itself prints. This is the current year — more recent than the Census series above, but only comparable to this city's own history. Totals cover 14 departments.
Looking for how this fits City of Colorado Springs's capacity to deliver? The fiscal dimension, binding constraint, and pathways live in the City of Colorado Springs capacity assessment.
The Civic Infrastructure Diagnostic Framework’s structural elements — the four cluster labels, the six capacity dimensions, and the binding-constraint framing — are licensed under CC BY 4.0. Anyone may use or adapt them with attribution. Tool implementation and full article text © 2026 JTV Advisory LLC.