OCTOBER 15 - 22, 2025
THE DEFINITIVE SOURCE FOR GRAND JUNCTION BUSINESS & COMMUNITY NEWS SINCE 1994
VOLUME 32, ISSUE 40
THEBUSINESSTIMES.COM
2026 city budget focuses on core services, efficiency Brandon Leuallen
A
The Business Times
s the City of Grand Junction grapples with flattening sales tax revenue that came in lower than expected in 2025, it has started its 2026 budget deliberations. During an Oct. 6 City Council workshop City Manager Mike Bennett said the process will continue through November and December, when the final budget is expected to be approved. Throughout the workshop, an overview of each department was presented to explain how its proposals align with the council’s strategic plan. Bennett said although revenue is expected to increase, the recommended $314.8 million budget represents a 12.3 percent decrease from the 2025 adopted budget, largely because the recreation center and wastewater treatment plant are nearing completion. He said staff spent more than 3,000 hours preparing the proposal. “Healthy Life Cycle” approach Bennett described what he called a “healthy life cycle” for communities, explaining Grand Junction has made large investments in recent years, but it must now focus on maintaining what it already has, especially as sales tax revenue is not increasing as quickly as prior years. “Communities have a healthy life cycle,” he said. “We invest heavily and do these large projects, and then we hone in on maintaining what we have and make sure we are focusing on those core services.” See CITY BUDGET on Page 5
Clean-Car Competition
Grand Junction car washes look for competitive edge as options increase — See Page 2 Saphire Wheeler, assistant site lead at the Champion Xpress Car Wash at 2830 Patterson Road, preps a vehicle before it enters the car wash’s tunnel on Oct. 7. Champion Xpress built two, tunnel car washes in Grand Junction, opening at 540 Warrior Way on March 1, 2023, and at 2830 Patterson Road on May 22, 2024. Champion Xpress Chief Operating Officer Jeff Wagner said Champion chose to build in Grand Junction, because “we try to look for areas that we know there’s going to be growth in population. They’re destinations. We try to look for areas where we can get in, serve and be part of the community.” Champion Xpress also opened a car wash in Delta. Photo by Tim Harty.
PRSRT STD U.S. POSTAGE PAID PERMIT NO. 67 The Business Times 609 North Ave., Suite 5 Grand Junction, CO 81501