Boulder County commissioners last week heard budget requests from the departments, from more money to complete large open space purchases to staffing for a planned jail expansion.
The requests include those that would be paid for through the county’s general fund, as well as those for money from specific sales and use taxes. The county’s general fund is especially limited this year, as the county makes cuts to address a deficit that will require identifying $30 million to $40 million in savings over the next three years, according to Boulder County Budget Officer Emily Beam.
“We do not have money to do all of the asks,” Commissioner Marta Loachamin said at a meeting last week. “We are going to have to say ‘no’ to some things.”
A public hearing on the recommended budget is set for 1 p.m. Tuesday. The commissioners are scheduled to make decisions about the department budget requests at a Nov. 6 meeting and to adopt the budget Dec. 9.
Community members are invited to share written comments and feedback with the commissioners through an online form or speak at the Oct. 14 public hearing. For more information and to access budget documents, go to bouldercounty.gov/government/budget-and-finance/county-budget/.
Parks and Open Space is asking to increase its acquisitions budget, using revenue from its dedicated sales and use tax, by $3 million, citing large upcoming planned land acquisitions, including Cemex’s Dowe Flats property. The department also wants to spend $1 million for a fence needed for a proposal to bring a buffalo herd to Boulder County in conjunction with Native tribal leaders.
The county commissioners earlier this year also agreed to support previous staffing commitments for the Boulder County Jail’s new alternative sentencing facility and planned jail expansion. Boulder County Sheriff Curtis Johnson said at a meeting last week that eight full-time employees will be needed, but not until later in 2026.
He’s also asking for $100,000 from the emergency services tax fund to increase the training budget from $250,000 to $350,000, with a goal of providing more emergency medical training to rural firefighters.
Another request is to hire a consultant to plan a Family Justice Center, possibly in a leased space, similar to one that’s offered in Jefferson County. The same request was made — and not approved — as part of last year’s budget. Commissioner Ashley Stolzmann suggested piloting the program in an existing, underused space, while Commissioner Claire Levy said her concerns include sustainable funding and if the program is needed.
In most cases, requests for additional employees aren’t being considered, Beam said. Instead, for the 2026 budget, the county had asked all of its departments to identify staff savings. Altogether, the county eliminated about 90 positions, including laying off 31 employees and cutting about 60 vacant positions earlier this month.
Of the employees who were laid off, three were in community planning and permitting, nine were in community services and 19 were in human services. Human services lost another 15 vacant positions, while 26 vacant positions were eliminated from community services.
In Community Services, reduced staffing is planned at the Juvenile Assessment Center because of the lower number of children needing that type of supervision. The Head Start, Strategic Initiatives and Workforce Divisions also will have reduced staff. Many of those human services positions came from ending the Parents as Teachers program and the foster care program, as well as moving a program for children in the social services system to an outside organization.
Along with the staffing reductions in the general fund, Boulder County Public Health is making its own cuts, reducing its budget from about $24 million to about $21 million. Executive Director Lexi Nolen said the goal is to create a sustainable budget and staffing levels for the long term.
“We have made cuts across all of our divisions,” she said at a meeting last week.
Those cuts include a reduction of 31 staff positions. Of those, seven were eliminated through attrition. Another eight were short term positions that have ended, while six staff members resigned or were reassigned. Another three staff members were moved to hourly positions. The remaining seven were laid off.
“We feel we were very fortunate to make these reductions while minimizing the number of staff we had to let go,” Nolen said.
Levy thanked Nolen for “taking a very sharp pencil to your budget. I know these were not easy decisions to make and it took a lot of leadership.”