Boulder County Government: Boulder County Adopts $549.8 Million Budget For 2022

Press release from the Boulder County Government:

December 9, 2021

While much of the 2022 budget addresses ongoing program and operating expenditures, some notable highlights include added emphasis on statutory requirements of public safety in response to legislative mandates and an increase in service needs.

Boulder County, Colo. -- The Boulder County Commissioners have adopted a budget of $549.8 million for 2022.

At a public meeting held on Dec. 9, Budget Director Aaron Pratt and the Board of County Commissioners provided an overview of the key aspects and decisions reflected in the adopted budget. (Their comments will be made available on the county’s video archive under the Commissioners’ Meetings tab, 3 p.m. budget meeting on 12/9/21). Copies of the budget resolutions are posted on the budget webpage.

By state statute, the Board of County Commissioners must approve an annual budget by December 15 for the next calendar year. Current and past years’ budgets can be viewed online at: boco.org/Budget.

Statements from the Board

“An important part of the budget is what we did to accelerate our forest health and wildfire mitigation work after last year’s record breaking Calwood Fire,” Commissioner Matt Jones said. “We added a new Fireshed coordinator to help accelerate the scale and pace of forest health work to meet today’s ferocious fires and to collaborate with our many partners—watershed groups, local fire departments, city water departments, the US and State Forest Services, scientists and numerous others. We also solidified staffing for the Wildfire Partners home mitigation program, added a worker to the Parks and Open Space forest mitigation crew and continued to support the Sheriff’s office fire response and mitigation team.”

“We enacted a budget that gives our staff the resources, both personnel and equipment, to do the complicated and challenging jobs we need them to do. From open space to climate action, human services to public works and more, county employees keep Boulder County residents safe and assist them in living lives of dignity no matter their circumstances or challenges. I’m pleased that we were able to fund additional staff positions to lessen workloads, initiate some new services for the public, and provide a package of compensation and benefits that demonstrates how much we value our staff.” Commissioner Claire Levy

“Our budget for 2022 is well-aligned with our strategic priorities and shows how Boulder County responds to the community and protects our natural environment through a diverse array of important services and programs daily,” said Marta Loachamin, Vice-Chair Boulder Board of County Commissioners. “Following over 18 months in a global pandemic it was even more important to put employees first by including an all-encompassing compensation and benefits package to support the staff who is serving Boulder County residents .”

Revenue highlights for the 2022 Budget

Overview and Highlights

While much of the 2022 budget addresses ongoing program and operating expenditures for Boulder County, the following are notable additions:

*5.5% Property Tax Revenue Limit

The statutory "5.5%" Property Tax Revenue Limit, also known as the "Annual Levy Law" (Section 29-1-301, et seq., C.R.S.), applies to statutory local governments that levy for property taxes, including Boulder County. The "5.5%" limit restricts the amount of property tax revenue that may be collected each year, meaning that Boulder County will set a property tax mill levy that takes in no more than a 5.5% increase in general operating property taxes over the past year.

Contact the Board of County Commissioners

View Commissioners' Meeting Documents and Records

Visit the County Commissioners' webpage

Notifications

This press release was produced by the Boulder County Government. The views expressed here are the author’s own.