The annual budget is the County’s most important financial management document. It is a financial road map for the coming year for all of the various departments and offices. The budget process is a joint effort between the Commissioners the department heads, and the other elected officials to maximize services in the most efficient way possible. According to state statute, the Board of County Commissioners has exclusive power to adopt the annual budget for the operation of the county government, including all offices, departments, boards, commissions, other spending agencies of the county government and other agencies which are funded in whole or in part by county appropriations.
This time of year the County has to go through the budget process preparing its budget for the fiscal year which begins January 1 and concludes December 31. Colorado Revised Statutes mandate the Board of County Commissioners to provide Law Enforcement, Courtroom and Court facilities, a Department of Human Services, and a Department of Public Health. Also under State Statute: We must provide a Road and Bridge Department, as well as staff a Planning and Zoning Department and Building Department for dealing with land uses. There are, of course the other Elected Officials and their staff: Assessor, Treasurer,
County Clerk & Recorder and Coroner.
The first State mandated deadline is on October 15th. This is when the Finance Officer must submit a proposed budget to the County Commissioners. The Commissioners must then publish a “Notice of Budget” upon receiving the proposed budget, this notice states the date and time of the hearing at which the adoption of the proposed budget will be considered. After the October 15th deadline and the proposed budget is submitted, the next sixty days are spent fine tuning the budget for the final budget to be ratified by the end of December.
All costs of doing business continue to rise for government just as they do for other businesses and private individuals. The County has to purchase supplies, insurance, utilities, food, and equipment. These costs have perpetually increased without corresponding revenue increases.
Businesses may pass along these increases to their consumers, but the County does not have this option.
The goal of the County Commissioner is to end the year with a healthy reserve fund balance for those unexpected or emergency situations. This also help keep stability of the county’s finances. We make every effort to be good stewards of taxpayer money. I can assure all taxpayers that prudent thought and multiple oversight has occurred when making spending decisions. However, government services are not free and the cost of doing business continues to rise.
We are working hard for you, Fremont County!
Dwayne McFall, Fremont County Commissioner, District 3