The Denver city budget will grow only slightly in 2025, Denver Mayor Mike Johnston said Thursday as he unveiled a plan with the slowest projected growth rate in more than a decade, outside the pandemic. But next year’s relatively conservative spending plan continues to prioritize Johnston’s homeless strategy, affordable housing and other signature initiatives — with limits on hiring across most departments. Denver’s general fund budget would grow to $1.76 billion under his proposal, an increase of just 0.6% over the $1.75 billion the city is now projected to spend by the end of this year.