Jeffco Commissioners Hearing To Consider $16M In Budget Cuts

JEFFERSON COUNTY, CO — The Jefferson County Board of County Commissioners has set its next budget hearing for Tuesday, Oct. 29 and wants to hear from the community about what they value most and how they would like to see the county address the budget shortfall.

The public budget hearing will begin at 8 a.m. in the first-floor Hearing Room One, in the Administration and Courts Facility, 100 Jefferson County Parkway. The hearing can also be watched online.

The proposed budget includes a seven percent reduction, or $16.1 million in cuts. As a part of the strategic budget planning process, commissioners and staff worked with elected officials to identify 2020 budget priorities. The Board of County Commissioners is also expected to vote on the revised Fiscal Year 2020 budget submitted by elected officials and department and division directors.

“These discussions have assisted us in refining our cuts by prioritizing services,” Jefferson County Manager Don Davis said in a statement. “Certainly, public safety is a high priority. However, it is also the greatest portion of general fund expenses and therefore these services will also be affected by these proposed cuts.”

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Even with additional dollars prioritized by the commissioners for public safety, the budgets that are impacted the most from the reduction in the general fund are the sheriff's office, the elections division and the facilities management division.

The sheriff’s office faces a $10 million budget reduction over the next 14 months, leading into the 2021 budget, officials said. By January, one floor of the jail will be closed due to reduced staffing levels. By 2021, two floors will be closed, and jail capacity will eventually be reduced by 640 beds. As a result, only certain people who are arrested will be able to be detained as mandated, and others who are serving sentences will be released early in accordance with the jail’s overcrowding policy. These changes will have a significant effect on criminal justice policy and, ultimately, the public’s safety, the sheriff's office said.

“I have been responsible with the resources entrusted to me, and will continue to be in the future,” Sheriff Jeff Shrader said in a statement. “However, public safety will suffer as a result of the proposed cuts. We cannot maintain the current level of service with what is effectively a $10 million cut.”

“These budget cuts will impact the ability of District Attorney’s Office to effectively prosecute violent offenders and those who prey on our most vulnerable citizens, our children and our elderly,” District Attorney Pete Weir stated.

Among other losses, the First Judicial District Attorney’s Office will lose prosecutors in the special victim’s unit, reducing the number of prosecutors in the elder abuse unit by 50 percent and in the crimes against children unit by 40 percent.

“The cut to the budget is putting an enormous strain on a dedicated staff to ensure the safety of the Jefferson County Community,” Weir said.

For the Jeffco Clerk and Recorder’s Office, the elections division will reduce the number of positions in the ballot processing center, which may increase the time it takes to count ballots and certify elections. The elections division will also cut budgets for printing services, postage and information services that are intended to inform voters. In the motor vehicle division, the budget cuts will force a hiring freeze and may result in longer wait times for customers who visit the motor vehicle offices.

“We are working to create a 21st-century Clerk and Recorder’s office, that includes more accessible, efficient and transparent service for the community, but these budget cuts in the Elections and Motor Vehicle divisions are hindering those efforts,” Chief Deputy Clerk and Recorder Val Abramovich said in a statement.

Facilities Management budget cuts will slow the implementation of the Facilities Master Plan and reduce maintenance and upgrade projects to county facilities, officials said.

“The Facilities Management division is responsible for the sustainability, physical security, operations and daily maintenance of the county’s aging facilities,” Deputy County Manager Kate Newman said in a statement. “Due to the budget cuts, maintenance on these facilities will have to be delayed, which will grow more costly over time.”

The county has put into place cost containment and process improvement over the last four years to help use resources more efficiently and effectively, officials said. For example, Jeffco Road and Bridge is processing and reusing old asphalt, which saved the county approximately $351,000 in one year alone. And the Jeffco Facilities Management team has implemented lighting upgrades, water-saving measures, heating and ventilation efficiencies, and installation of solar photovoltaic systems at several sites – saving taxpayers $478,000 a year, the county said. Despite these efforts, these savings are not enough to keep up with the increasing expenditures of the county.

In the absence of additional revenue, the county will face cuts not only in 2020 but 2021 as well. While demand for services grows, available tax revenue that would pay for those services is limited by the Taxpayer Bill of Rights. The availability of future funding has a direct impact on the level and quality of services the county will be able to provide under current constraints, officials said.