El Paso County, Colorado, October 3, 2023 – The El Paso County Financial Services Department presented the 2024 Preliminary Balanced Budget at the October 3, 2023, Board of County Commissioners meeting. El Paso County is responsible for providing essential public services, including maintaining critical infrastructures such as roads, bridges, and stormwater and ensuring public health and safety.
El Paso County provides efficient and cost-effective services to its residents, with the lowest county property tax, mill levy requirements, and tax cost per citizen average of any of the ten largest counties in the state. The preliminary budget for the upcoming year aims to balance the needs of providing vital public services while also planning conservatively for the future.
“This year’s preliminary budget aligns with our core values of transparency and accountability while remaining conservative and bolstering our public safety and infrastructure,” said Nikki Simmons, El Paso County CFO. “Our strategic plan focuses on Infrastructure, Service Quality, Community Trust and Health and Safety, and this proposed budget meets those objectives. Despite being the most populous county in the state, El Paso County continues to have the lowest property tax burden and the lowest cost per citizen for delivering high-impact services out of the ten largest counties in Colorado.”
The $482.9 million preliminary balanced budget includes $217 million in unrestricted general fund expenditures. The preliminary balanced budget also addresses various critical needs of the county, including investments in Public Safety through the District Attorney, Sheriff, and Coroner’s Offices, as well as strategic investments in Roads and Stormwater and additional staffing to aid our Veteran’s Service Office to respond to the PACT act. The 2024 preliminary budget prioritizes investments in:
· Road Infrastructure – This allocation includes a one-time $10 million funding increase for roads to strategically address high-priority projects in addition to the base budget of $28 million.
· Public Safety – $97 million of the unrestricted general fund is allocated to public safety to keep our community safe. The public safety allocation is 45% of the total unrestricted general fund.
· Veteran Services – $281,000 is allocated for three Veteran Service Officers to assist Veterans in navigating the VA’s process and enhance support for over 100,000 veterans in El Paso County.
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 2024 El Paso County Budget hearing schedule is as follows:
2024 Original Adopted Budget Hearing 2 – October 19, 2023
· Department/Offices Critical Needs Presentations
2024 Original Adopted Budget Hearing 3 – October 24, 2023
· Department/Offices Critical Needs Presentations
2024 Original Adopted Budget Hearing 4 – November 14, 2023
· BoCC Direction on the 2024 Original Adopted Budget
2024 Budget Hearing – December 5, 2023
· Resolution to Adopt the 2024 Original Adopted Budget
[If ballot initiative HH passes, budget adoption will not be possible until the first week in January 2024. The final certification from Assessor will not be complete until December 29, 2023. Statutory deadline to pass budget and certify mill levy moved to January 5, 2024.]
The 2024 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/.