The Vibrant Denver Bond: A Quick Q&A with Denver’s CFO Nicole Doheny

DENVER, CO – In a follow-up to our first Vibrant Denver Bond video, we wanted to take a closer look at how these kinds of city bonds actually work. The bond package appearing on Denver’s November ballot would invest nearly one billion dollars in transportation, parks, health, cultural, and housing projects. But many residents have asked the same questions: How can the city borrow that much money when budgets are already tight? Where does the money come from? And how can we be sure it’s spent exactly as promised?

To answer those questions, Developing Denver spoke with Nicole Doheny, Chief Financial Officer for the City and County of Denver.

How Denver Pays for Bonds

When voters approve a general obligation bond, the city sells bonds to investors in exchange for upfront funding. Those investors are repaid over time using a dedicated portion of property-tax revenue that can only be used for this purpose.

“The bonds are repaid from an entirely separate source of funding than the city’s operating budget,” Doheny explained. “We have a dedicated set of property taxes that our residents pay that can only be spent on bonds like these.”

This means the city’s day-to-day budget for services like parks, police, or street maintenance is kept separate from the funds used to repay bond investors. It’s a legally required firewall.

Legal Separation and Accountability

We asked what checks and balances are in place to make sure that separation stays in effect.

“It’s really a legal requirement of the funds,” Doheny said. “When those dedicated property taxes were originally approved by voters many years ago, they could only be used for this purpose. The legal separation between the city’s general fund and the funds available for these bonds is a matter of law.”

That means each bond measure operates like a closed account: money collected for those projects cannot be transferred into general operations or other city programs. Audits, public reporting, and voter authorization provide additional oversight.

Doheny pointed to past examples, like improvements to the Denver Central Library, where funds were restricted to the specific project voters approved.

From Voter Approval to Project Design

Once voters approve a bond measure, the city doesn’t spend all the money at once. Bonds are sold in phases as projects move through design, planning, and construction. Residents can still help shape what’s built.

“There will be processes associated with planning and implementation for each of these projects,” Doheny said. “For example, with Park Hill, we’ve already started a community process for what that park is going to look like. The bond would fund the first phase of that work, but there’s a deep community process about the exact elements and what amenities it will have.”

Each major project funded through the bond will go through its own public engagement phase before final design decisions are made.

Why It Matters

The Vibrant Denver Bond is the latest in a series of citywide investments designed to repair aging infrastructure, create new parks and facilities, and prepare Denver for future growth. By using general obligation bonds, the city can make those improvements now and repay the cost gradually over time without raising property-tax rates. As with past bonds, transparency and legal restrictions on how the funds can be spent are built into the structure itself.

Special Note

This article was created in partnership with the Vibrant Denver Bond campaign. Their sponsorship supports access to factual, up-to-date information about the 2025 bond measures.  Developing Denver retains full editorial control over its reporting, with the goal of helping residents understand how city infrastructure investments are funded and delivered.

Paid Partnership with Vibrant Denver Bond.

All project information was sourced from publicly available site plans, renderings, and permitting documents.

---

See more behind the build on Denver’s greatest construction projects

Get a deeper dive on the who, what, when and why behind the city’s greatest construction projects with our premium member content.

Interested in sponsorship? Learn more about our sponsors and how to get involved.

All project information was sourced from publicly available site plans, renderings, and permitting documents.