The end of the year is coming closer and that means municipalities across Garfield County are going over their budgets for the coming year. In Rifle, city officials presented the latest version of the 2026 budget during their Oct. 1 meeting. 

The presentation was not the final version — that will go before council for formal approval or rejection in late November — but City Manager Patrick Waller said it’s close to what will be brought forward for adoption.

Waller and Finance Director Scott Rust outlined the city’s financial priorities, which include debt service requirements, maintaining daily operations, completing necessary capital projects and, if possible, funding additional “nice-to-have” projects such as service expansions. 

“Revenue this year, we’re projecting the sales tax will increase 3% over prior year collections,” Waller said. “The way we came to that number is inflation, which is about 2.1%, plus an increase in overall spending, so we’re looking at right about 3%.” 

Rust and Waller work the budget by assuming the worst case scenarios to be able to provide a conservative budget for the city.

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The total capital expenditures for the proposed 2026 budget is around $26 million, due to larger projects underway or planned from earlier meetings, such as capital projects like the Park N’ Ride, the Penwell Project, and renovating Morrow Drive. However, these projects are one time spending projects, according to Waller. 

The city of Rifle also approved an end of the 2025 year higher salary pay structure for city employees, including Rifle Police Department, during their Sept. 3 meeting. They implemented it into the 2026 budget, moving staff payroll from around $12 million to $14 million. This estimate includes insurance and if every position in the city is filled.

“In addition to the core services, our quality of life improvements that the city is looking at, one is the Birch Park construction, this is already underway and will be completed next year,” Waller said. “The Parks Department has also identified Deerfield sidewalk improvements, upgrading lights at Deerfield as well, and design of the dugouts at Deerfield Park.”

The city’s expanded mural program, supported by the Greater Rifle Improvement Team and the Visitor Improvement Fund, is also continuing alongside the façade improvement program.

Councilor Chris Bornholdt asked why the water and wastewater budgets were higher than in previous years. Waller and Rust explained the city is setting aside funds for the $8 million Penwell Project and an upcoming state license renewal.

“This is a living, breathing document, you all are great to work with, it’s very collaborative here at the city,” Rust said. “I don’t really stress that much over the budget because of your understanding and flexibility and our department heads do a fantastic job of not overspending.”

Waller also reiterated that the city is not tied to the budget and they can break away from it if they need to. 

“One of the things we’ve talked about as council, we always budget very conservatively, because we never want to be in a bad position,” said Mayor Sean Strode. “That has held true for years, decades, we’ve always done really well.” 

Strode added that the city aims to use available funds to benefit residents rather than hold onto taxpayer money unnecessarily.

A public hearing on the proposed budget is scheduled for the Nov. 19 council meeting.

“There can still be changes up to the public hearing,” Waller said. “We encourage any citizens to come in. We have a copy of the budget available, but it’s probably easier to just call and talk about it because it’s sometimes a dense document.”

Councilor Alicia Gresley asked what residents should do if they want to ask questions or provide input but aren’t sure how.

“I always encourage folks to call me personally — my number is on the website,” Waller said. “We have all our emails accessible as well. The budget is pretty dense, so if they leave a comment on social media, we pick those up too and reach out directly. Or just stop by — that’s always good too.”