Boulder County Officially Adopts $432.5 Million Budget For 2019

BOULDER, CO -- Boulder County officially adopted a $432.5 million budget for 2019 this week, up from $426.9 million in 2018. The biggest single item next year will be $6 million for upgrades at the Boulder County Jail, funded by a .185 percent sales tax increase passed by voters this November.

The Board of County Commissioners also introduced a set of 5-year strategic priorities to take Boulder through 2023. After six months of consultation with county staff and leadership, five areas of focus rose to the top: Affordable living, climate action, equity and justice, land and water stewardship, and organizational and financial stewardship. A full review of the goals and objectives for each priority will be released by the county in January.

Other big-ticket items on the budget include $1.6 million for improvements at the Justice Center, $702,000 for improvements and repairs at the recycling center, and $1.4 million for a new sort yard to be operated by Boulder County Parks and Open Space. There will be 18.5 new, permanent full-time employees positions in 2019, including new jail staff, three new District Attorney positions in response to increased workloads, a multimodal planner, and a hazardous materials specialist, and others.

The budget also extends a temporary mill levy credit, which will decrease the allowable tax rate on the Boulder County portion of property taxes. Boulder County's collection of property taxes represents roughly 25 percent of a property owner’s total average property tax bill. Other taxing entities that receive property tax revenues include (from 2018 data): school districts (56 percent), cities and towns (12 percent), and “other” including fire, water and special districts (7 percent).

More details, as well as the current and past years’ budgets can be viewed online at: https://www.bouldercounty.org/government/budget-and-finance/county-budget/

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