Fremont County Manager George Sugars told the Board of Commissioners Tuesday that after several months of preparation the document on their desks represented a proposed balanced budget for 2012. Citizens will now have an opportunity to react to the budget blueprint as the commissioners set public hearings on the 2012 proposed budget on the regular meeting dates of November 8th and 22nd. Commissioner Mike Stiehl urged citizens to take the opportunity beforehand to examine the proposed budget on the internet. A link to the budget document will be provided on the county’s home web page.
Commission Chairman Ed Norden said the county is encountering more and more frustrations with the budget as the State of Colorado continues to hand down more and more unfunded mandates to local governments while also taking away Energy Impact and Gaming grant dollars that have been earmarked for local governments under previous legislation. Norden said legislators can expect to hear more about that from county commissioners and city councils from across the state in the 2012 legislative session.
Norden said while the commissioners have worked hard in recent years to build the general fund reserve back to an amount above $1 million, the only way to balance the 2012 budget was to use about $275,000 from those general fund reserves. District 2 Commissioner Debbie Bell noted that the biggest reason for having to draw from reserves is because property tax revenues to Fremont County will drop by $244,000 due to the 2011 revaluation of property. It is the first time the decline in the market place from the recession is reflected in assessed property values.
2012 will also be the first time in over three years that the commissioners have increased the amount of general fund dollars flowing into the Sheriff’s fund. Typically the Sheriff’s fund has received $3.9 million from the general fund but in 2012 that amount will increase by $265,000. Commissioner Bell said despite that increase she is appalled that the county still cannot afford to provide a uniform allowance to Sheriff’s deputies. In addition the 2012 budget shows the county is committing to spend $145,000 to replace worn out jail kitchen equipment, replace old worn out Sheriff’s computers, replace an intoxilizer machine, and replace an electronic fingerprint scanner.
The commissioners also heard a report Tuesday from Department of Transportation Superintendent Anthony Adamic who detailed spending this summer on asphalt paving projects in the county. Adamic said $764,228 was spent for paving Garden Park Road north of Cañon City. $400,000 of that amount came from a Limited Stakes gaming grant which must be used exclusively on a road that carries casino traffic to Cripple Creek. Adamic said the county invested $130,481 in equipment, labor, and materials on asphalt paving projects in Lincoln Park. Lincoln Park area roads getting new blacktop included Short Street between Highway 115 and 12th Street, South 12th between Grand and Sherman Avenue, and Logan Street between Sherman and Park Avenue. Part of those paving projects was connected to replacement of water mains within the county roads.
The only action item on the agenda for the Board on Tuesday was the rescheduling of the monthly Board of Public Health and Board of Social Services meeting from Tuesday, November 29th, to Monday morning, November 28th to permit the commissioners to attend the annual Colorado Counties Winter Conference in Colorado Springs that week.