The City of Boulder has implemented a hiring freeze and asked departments to scale back spending for the rest of 2025 as it faces a potential $8-$10 million budget shortfall, officials announced in a recent press release. Boulder has been warning of slowing sales tax since at least 2018, when the city faced a $4 million budget shortfall. Boulder’s sales tax revenue has grown every year but two in the past 15 years: 2020 and 2024. From 2009 to 2015, the city’s sales tax was growing 5.03% per year, on average. The hiring freeze, which will impact an estimated 85 positions, will last through the end of the year, according to city officials.