October 9, 2024 – During the October 8 Board of County Commissioners meeting, the El Paso County Financial Services Department presented the 2025 Preliminary Balanced Budget. This public process includes multiple meetings and is intended to offer residents an opportunity to better understand the needs of the County and provide input on budgeted items.
The $530.8 million preliminary balanced budget puts an emphasis on public safety and infrastructure projects. Various critical needs of the county are considered, and investments were prioritized in the following areas:
- Road Construction and Safety – This allocation includes a one-time $12 million investment into roads for resurfacing, construction, and safety improvement projects. This is part of a multi-year plan to address the existing backlog of road infrastructure projects. This brings the Road & Bridge allocation to $41.3 million for 2025.
- County Courthouse – $4.5 million towards courthouse infrastructure to increase capacity for additional judges which are anticipated to be allocated to the 4th Judicial District.
- Stormwater Projects – $4.2 million is allocated for stormwater improvement projects to address the County’s stormwater conveyance systems.
- Public Safety – $1.4 million is allocated to Public Safety Departments and Offices, including the District Attorney’s Office, Sheriff’s Office, Pikes Peak Regional Office of Emergency Management, and Justice Services Department to increase public safety for the residents of El Paso County.
The 2025 Proposed Budget includes a $8.25 million TABOR refund. Residential property taxpayers will receive an equal share of this refund on their 2025 property tax bill, approximately $36 per residential property. Additionally, the County announced a 13.7% reduction in the 2025 property tax mill levy due to TABOR, providing property tax relief to all property owners.
The proposed budget maintains $9.23 million in emergency reserves, in addition to unrestricted reserves of 24.3% of budgeted revenues. These funds allow the county to be prepared in the event of unforeseen circumstances and showcase El Paso County’s commitment to being responsible stewards of taxpayer funds.
“El Paso County strives to make sound financial decisions while maintaining our directive of providing quality, cost-efficient services to our residents,” said Nikki Simmons, El Paso County CFO. “Guided by our organization’s strategic plan, we aim to focus on Infrastructure, Service Quality, Community Trust and Health and Safety. This proposed budget meets those objectives while allowing room for the organization to make responsible decisions regarding staffing, project focus, and planning for the future.”
Members of the public may attend and comment on the budget during any of the below meetings. The meetings are held at 9:00 am, in the Commissioner’s Hearing Room at Centennial Hall, 200 South Cascade Avenue.
The remaining 2025 El Paso County Budget hearing schedule is as follows:
2025 Original Adopted Budget Hearing 2 – October 15, 2024
- Department/Offices Critical Needs Presentations
2025 Original Adopted Budget Hearing 3 – October 22, 2024
- Department/Offices Critical Needs Presentations
2025 Original Adopted Budget Hearing 4 – November 5, 2024
- BoCC Direction on the 2025 Original Adopted Budget
2025 Budget Hearing – December 10, 2024
- Resolution to Adopt the 2025 Original Adopted Budget
The 2025 Preliminary Balanced Budget may be viewed online at the El Paso County website by going to https://admin.elpasoco.com/financial-services/budget-finance/county-budget/.
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