Colorado Springs, Colorado

From Ballotpedia - Reading time: 6 min

Top 100 Cities Banner.jpg



Colorado Springs, Colorado
Seal of Colorado Springs.png
General information

Mayor of Colorado Springs Yemi Mobolade
Nonpartisan
Assumed office: June 6, 2023

Last mayoral election:2023
Next mayoral election:2027
Last city council election:2023
Next city council election:2025
City council seats:9
City website
Composition data (2019)
Population:464,871
Race:White 78.5%
African American 6.5%
Asian 2.9%
Native American 0.8%
Pacific Islander 0.3%
Two or more 5.9%
Ethnicity:Hispanic 17.6%
Median household income:$64,712
High school graduation rate:93.9%
College graduation rate:39.9%
Related Colorado Springs offices
Colorado Congressional Delegation
Colorado State Legislature
Colorado state executive offices


Colorado Springs is a city in El Paso County, Colorado. The city's population was 478,961 as of 2020, according to the United States Census Bureau.

Click on the links below to learn more about the city's...

City government[edit]

See also: Mayor-council government

The city of Colorado Springs utilizes a strong mayor and city council system. In this form of municipal government, the city council serves as the city's primary legislative body, and the mayor serves as the city's chief executive.[1]

Mayor[edit]

See also: List of current mayors of the top 100 cities in the United States

The mayor serves as the city's chief executive and is responsible for proposing a budget, signing legislation into law, appointing departmental directors, enforcing the laws of the city, and supervising accounts and records of the city.[2] The current Mayor of Colorado Springs is Yemi Mobolade (nonpartisan). Mobolade assumed office in 2023.

City council[edit]

See also: List of current city council officials of the top 100 cities in the United States

The Colorado Springs City Council is the city's primary legislative body. It is responsible for appointing the city auditor and the council administrator, approving the city budget, establishing tax rates, serving as the governing board of Colorado Springs Utilities, setting policies, and passing ordinances and resolutions to govern the city.[3]

The Colorado Springs City Council is made up of nine members. Six members are elected by the city's six districts, while three are elected at large.[4]

The widget below automatically displays information about city council meetings. The topic list contains a sampling of keywords that Voterheads, a local government monitoring service, found in each meeting agenda. Click the meeting link to see more info and the full agenda:

Other elected officials[edit]

Ballotpedia does not cover any additional city officials in Colorado Springs, Colorado.


Mayoral partisanship[edit]

See also: Party affiliation of the mayors of the 100 largest cities

Colorado Springs has an independent mayor. As of September 2024, 63 mayors in the largest 100 cities by population are affiliated with the Democratic Party, 25 are affiliated with the Republican Party, one is affiliated with the Libertarian Party, four are independents, five identify as nonpartisan or unaffiliated, and two mayors' affiliations are unknown. Click here for a list of the 100 largest cities' mayors and their partisan affiliations.

Mayoral elections are officially nonpartisan in most of the nation's largest cities. However, many officeholders are affiliated with political parties. Ballotpedia uses one or more of the following sources to identify each officeholder's partisan affiliation: (1) direct communication from the officeholder, (2) current or previous candidacy for partisan office, or (3) identification of partisan affiliation by multiple media outlets.

Elections[edit]

2023[edit]

See also: City elections in Colorado Springs, Colorado (2023) and Mayoral election in Colorado Springs, Colorado (2023)

The city of Colorado Springs, Colorado, held general elections for mayor and city council on April 4, 2023. The mayoral race advanced to a runoff scheduled for May 16, 2023. The city also held a special election for the District 3 seat on the city council on the same date. The filing deadline for this election was January 23, 2023.

2021[edit]

See also: City elections in Colorado Springs, Colorado (2021)

The city of Colorado Springs, Colorado, held general elections for city council on April 6, 2021. The filing deadline for this election was January 25, 2021.

2019[edit]

See also: City elections in Colorado Springs, Colorado (2019)
The city of Colorado Springs, Colorado, held general elections for mayor and city council on April 2, 2019. A runoff election, if necessary, was on May 21, 2019. The deadline for candidates to file to run in this election was January 22, 2019. Click here for more information about the mayoral election.

City voters also decided two local ballot measures on November 5, 2019.

2017[edit]

See also: Municipal elections in Colorado Springs, Colorado (2017)

The city of Colorado Springs, Colorado, held elections for city council on April 4, 2017. The filing deadline for candidates wishing to run in this election was January 23, 2017.[5] Six of the nine seats on the city council were up for election.

2015[edit]

See also: Municipal elections in Colorado Springs, Colorado (2015)

The city of Colorado Springs, Colorado, held nonpartisan elections for mayor and city council on April 7, 2015. A runoff election took place on May 19, 2015.[6] The filing deadline for candidates who wished to run in this election was February 11, 2015. Four of the nine city council seats were up for election.[7]

Census information[edit]

The table below shows demographic information about the city.

Demographic Data for Colorado Springs
Colorado Springs
Population 478,961
Land area (sq mi) 201
Race and ethnicity**
White 73.4%
Black/African American 6%
Asian 3.1%
Native American 1.1%
Pacific Islander 0.3%
Two or more 11.5%
Hispanic/Latino 18.5%
Education
High school graduation rate 94.3%
College graduation rate 41.1%
Income
Median household income $79,026
Persons below poverty level 6.6%
Source: population provided by U.S. Census Bureau, "Decennial Census" (2020). Other figures provided by U.S. Census Bureau, "American Community Survey" (5-year estimates 2017-2022).
**Note: Percentages for race and ethnicity may add up to more than 100 percent because respondents may report more than one race and the Hispanic/Latino ethnicity may be selected in conjunction with any race. Read more about race and ethnicity in the census here.


Budget[edit]

The budget of Colorado Springs run through the calendar year, from January 1 through December 31. From May to July each year, the city's budget office works with departments and divisions to prepare budget proposals. The mayor then balances the budget and sends it to the budget office to prepare the budget document. The city council reviews the recommended budget and holds public hearings on the budget. The city council adopts the budget and sets the mill levy.[8]

Fiscally standardized cities data[edit]

The fiscally standardized cities (FiSC) data below was compiled by the Lincoln Institute of Land Policy to make municipal budgets comparable across cities in the United States.[9]

FiSCs are constructed by adding revenues and expenditures of each central city municipal government to a portion of the revenues and expenditures of overlying governments, including counties, independent school districts, and special districts. The allocations to FiSCs are estimates of the revenues collected from and services provided to central city residents and businesses by these overlying independent governments. Thus FiSCs provides a full picture of revenues raised from city residents and businesses and spending on their behalf, whether done by the city government or a separate overlying government.[10]

—Lincoln Institute of Land Policy[11]

The tables below show estimated finances within city limits. As such, the revenue and expenses listed may differ from the actual city budget.


Revenue in 2020
Revenue type Amount
Total Revenue $3,058,625,681
General Revenue $2,226,715,712
Federal Aid $96,572,631
State Aid $700,044,015
Tax Revenue $965,157,445
Charges & Misc. General Revenue $464,936,841
Utility Revenue $831,909,969
Liquor Store Revenue $0

Expenditures in 2020
Expenditure type Amount
Total Expenditures $2,727,466,935
General Expenditures $2,012,025,413
Education Services Expenditure $942,273,910
Health and Welfare Expenditure $75,868,935
Transportation Expenditure $201,037,619
Public Safety Expenditure $238,854,968
Environment and Housing Expenditure $200,052,867
Governmental Administration Expenditure $109,895,466
Interest on General Debt $83,890,362
Miscellaneous Expenditure $160,151,286
Utility Expenditure $706,349,296
Liquor Store Expenditure $0
Intergovernmental Expenditures $6,745,074

Historical total revenue and expenditure[edit]

To see the historical total revenue or expenditures as a rounded amount in this city, hover over the bars.[9]

Colorado Springs, Colorado, salaries and pensions over $95,000[edit]

Below is a map of the nationwide salaries and pensions in this city over $95,000. To search a different ZIP code, enter it in the search bar within the map.

Contact information[edit]

Mayor's office
30 S Nevada Avenue
Colorado Springs, CO 80903
Phone: 719-385-5900

City Clerk's office
30 South Nevada Avenue
Suite 101
Colorado Springs, CO 80903
Phone: 719-385-5901

Click here for city council contact information.

Ballot measures[edit]

See also: El Paso County, Colorado ballot measures

The city of Colorado Springs is in El Paso County. A list of ballot measures in El Paso County is available here.

Noteworthy events[edit]

2020: Events and activity following the death of George Floyd[edit]

See also: Events following the death of George Floyd and responses in select cities from May 29-31, 2020

During the weekend of May 29-31, 2020, demonstrations and protests took place in cities nationwide, including Colorado Springs, following the death of George Floyd. Events in Colorado Springs, Colorado, began on Saturday, May 30, 2020.[12] No curfews were issued over the weekend. The national guard was not deployed.

2017: Nondiscrimination laws[edit]

See also: Employment nondiscrimination laws in Colorado

In July 2015, the Movement Advancement Project described Colorado Springs, Colorado, as a city or county that prohibited discrimination in employment on the basis of gender identity via ordinances that apply to public and private employers. At that time, a total of 71 of America's largest 100 cities prohibited private employers from discriminating on the basis of sexual orientation, while 69 of those cities also prohibited discrimination based on gender identity. This did not include those jurisdictions that prohibited discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity for government employees.[13]

Nondiscrimination laws can cover a variety of areas, including public employment, private employment, housing, and public accommodations. Such laws may be enacted at the state, county, or city level.

See also[edit]

External links[edit]

Footnotes[edit]


Licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0 | Original source: https://ballotpedia.org/Colorado_Springs,_Colorado
Status: cached on September 05 2024 21:22:20
Encyclosphere.org EncycloReader is supported by the EncyclosphereKSF