December 10, 2024 – During today’s Board of County Commissioner’s meeting, El Paso County’s Chief Financial Officer, Nikki Simmons, presented the 2025 Original Adopted Budget for approval. The Board approved the budget with a unanimous 5-0 vote. This was the final step of a months-long process that ensures the county can continue operations in the coming year.
“This budget is the result of many months’ worth of work from the entire El Paso County staff,” said Simmons. “Elected officials, all department directors, and their financial teams were all involved, so we’re very excited to present this budget for adoption.”
The 2025 budget evaluated critical needs due to increased service demands attributed to population growth and was developed with an emphasis on public safety and infrastructure. El Paso County prioritized building a recession-resistant budget, ensuring a stable future for the county. The $533 million balanced budget allocates $51.4 million towards critical needs and investments in road construction, the county courthouse, stormwater projects, and public safety.
“I want to give a big thank you to our staff, our county administrator, and other countywide elected officials for making this possible,” said Board Chair Carrie Geitner. “We are a low-tax county – that’s what our citizens asked us for. That means we have to be very disciplined about how we are spending our money. I want to emphasize the importance of roads in this budget. We hear from citizens all the time that they want that to be a focus of ours, so it’s critical that we meet that expectation.”
The budget includes a TABOR refund of $8.2 million, which will be refunded to residential property owners on their 2025 property tax bills. The budget also maintains $9.23 million in emergency reserves reinforcing El Paso County’s commitment to be prepared for unforeseen circumstances and public safety.
Highlights from the 2025 budget include:
- Road Construction and Safety – A one-time $12 million investment, bringing total investment to $41.3 million to address the backlog of road infrastructure projects.
- Public Safety – An allocation of $1.4 million to Public Safety Departments and Offices
- County Courthouse – $4.5 million towards courthouse infrastructure to increase capacity for additional judges
For more information about the budget, please visit El Paso County’s budget page – https://admin.elpasoco.com/financial-services/budget-finance/county-budget/.
###