Garfield County commissioners are working line-by-line through the county’s proposed 2027 budget, grappling with lower revenues, higher expenses and a $12.9 million shortfall.
Over October, the commissioners have listened to funding requests from county departments, external organizations and other governing bodies — all of which are asking to draw dollars from the county budget for operations and projects. But the commissioners have repeatedly emphasized that this year’s budget necessitates difficult cuts. The budget is proposed to total $136.9 million in expenses.
On Tuesday, the board expressed reluctance as they agreed to whittle down their contribution to employees’ health insurance plans. The existing healthcare package is a rising stress on the county’s budget that was proposed to take up nearly 11% of total spending. On Wednesday, they delayed capital projects like road improvements and vehicle replacements to make ends meet.
“I wish we were in a better financial situation than we are, but we’re not,” said commissioner Perry Will.
Garfield County’s revenue is projected to continue shrinking, continuing a yearslong trend driven primarily by less tax revenue from oil and gas drilling operations, according to county staff.
Total revenue in 2027 is expected to drop to $124 million. That’s $1.9 million less than what the county anticipates generating in 2026 and about $18 million less than what it generated in 2024.
Meanwhile, expenses are continuing to rise due to several factors, including inflation, state mandates and wage increases. Operating expenses are expected to exceed operating revenues by $3.2 million. In total, the county is budgeting to spend $400,000 more than it did in 2026.
The shortfall has, for the second year in a row, put the county on track to draw money from its long-built-up, healthy reserve fund, which the 2026 budget is already drawing $10.5 million from. The reserve fund is expected to dip to $108.2 million at the end of 2027.
Budget tension prompts hard cuts
The county’s annual budget serves as a blueprint for its priorities and day-to-day operations, said Garfield County Manager Fred Jarman.
“The budget represents more than just the county’s financial plan. This is your authority to act in providing financial services,” Jarman said. “It addresses your priorities and goals around protecting and advancing what is your clear mission: public health, safety and welfare.”
Commissioners weighed what those goals should look like on Wednesday, when they reduced capital project spending from $7.4 to $6 million. Staff from various departments — including the airport, landfill and jail — approached the board with lists of improvements they’d like to make, and commissioners decided which could be delayed another year.
Among the projects that didn’t make the cut were four of nine requested patrol vehicle replacements, as well as repairs to Battlement Mesa’s Stone Quarry Road. They plan to fund various improvements to the airport, sheriff’s office and landfill.
Commissioners also sifted through grant requests from outside entities, like nonprofits and other municipalities. Discretionary grants were budgeted to take up $2.37 million of the county’s budget.
Included in the preliminary approved grants was $150,000 to Garfield Clean Energy, a government collaboration aiming to help county residents, businesses and municipalities be energy efficient. They also devoted $20,000 to Middle Colorado Watershed Council to fund the nonprofit’s wildfire-prompted flood mitigation projects, and $200,000 to the Roaring Fork Transportation Authority’s Hogback bus route connecting Rifle and Silt to up valley.
They committed to giving Parachute $250,000 for the town’s effort to revitalize its First Street into a downtown corridor — far from the $600,000 the town asked for. Commissioners were supportive of the project but could not budget for the total requested funds.
“We’ve given about every municipality funding for transportation infrastructure, and anything to Parachute for that I’d like to see,” Commissioner Tom Jankovsky said.
The capital projects and grants presented before commissioners on Wednesday were only a portion of what the county was asked to fund. Before presenting the budget line-by-line to commissioners, a team of staff narrowed down the lists of potential spending items, in the case of capital projects, by almost $8.4 million.
Taxes make up the largest portion of revenue for the county and are estimated to generate $58 million in 2027. Intergovernmental grants are expected to bring in nearly $36 million — $22.2 million of which is from the federal government — and service charges should bring in $19.4 million, according to staff estimates.
Wages and benefits for the county’s 505 employees will take up about $66.4 million of expenses — the most of any spending category. That accounts for 3% merit raises and a 1.5% pay grade increase to the pay structure.
The county will continue the freeze of 14 vacant and unfunded positions — a measure it took last year to minimize the budget’s shortfall.
County commissioners will officially adopt the budget in November.
Drew Shaw is a Report for America corps member covering public lands in Garfield County for the Aspen Daily News.
