HomeMy WebLinkAbout20253349 Hearing Certification
Docket No. 2025-73
Board of County Commissioners
Weld County, Colorado
Ordinance #262, In the Matter of Summarizing Expenditures and Revenues for Each Fund
and Adopting a Budget for the County of Weld, Colorado, for the Calendar Year 2026
A public hearing was conducted on December 10, 2025, at 9:00 a.m., with the following
present:
Commissioner Perry L. Buck, Chair
Commissioner Scott K. James, Pro-Tem
Commissioner Jason S. Maxey
Commissioner Lynette Peppier
Commissioner Kevin D. Ross
Also present:
Acting Clerk to the Board, Houstan Aragon
County Attorney, Bruce Barker
Budget Manager, Jennifer Oftelie
Budget Analyst, Linda Duncan
The following business was transacted:
I hereby certify that pursuant to a Notice dated November 19, 2025, and duly published
November 21, 2025, in the Greeley Tribune, a public hearing was conducted to consider
adoption of the 2026 Final Budget for Weld County, Colorado.
Jennifer Oftelie, Budget Manager, alongside Linda Duncan, Budget Analyst, reviewed the
mill levy at 15.956 set by Weld County Assessor's Office and translated to the amount of
$19,722,748,799.00, which is $25.4 Million less than what was in the preliminary values.
She explained, by leaving the mill levy the same as the 2025 budget, the prepared budget
for 2026 was anticipated to reflect property tax revenue totaling $314,696,180.00, which
despite being $400,000.00 less than the preliminary budget, is still a 2.5% increase from
2025. Ms. Oftelie explained the County has provided tax credits back to the citizens and
businesses totaling $1.48 Billion since approximately 2002, and further explained that
TABOR accounts for growth plus inflation, which has been between 2.5-3% throughout
2025. Pursuant to the Weld County Home Rule Charter, it prohibits growth over 5%
annually; therefore, calculations at 2.5% reflect the increase to assessed values without
raising taxes. Likewise, she indicated, expenses for the 2026 budget grew by 24.8%, but
noted an aggressive push to direct funds in the Public Works budget for capital
improvement projects in 2026. Ms. Oftelie further highlighted budgets regarding various
personnel changes, reallocation of resources, administrative adjustments, and pending
facilities planning. Commissioner James commended staff for their hard work, and in
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response, Ms. Oftelie confirmed the majority of the increases are due to drawdowns for
Public Works capital improvements to infrastructure.
No public testimony was offered concerning this matter.
Commissioner Ross moved to approve Setting the Mill Levy at 15.956 mills for 2026. The
motion was seconded by Commissioner Maxey which carried unanimously.
Chair Buck introduced the Final Reading of Ordinance #262, Summarizing Expenditures
and Revenues for Each Fund and Adopting a Budget for Weld County, Colorado, for the
calendar year 2026. Commissioner James moved to read Ordinance #262 by title only,
and seconded by Commissioner Ross the motion passed unanimously. Bruce Barker,
County Attorney, read said ordinance title for the record.
Ms. Oftelie stated the only change made for Final Reading is the reduction in tax dollars,
in the amount of $405,936.00, due to the decrease in the final assessed value certified
by the Weld County Assessor, which results in the final anticipated revenue for 2026
amounting to $586,357,832.00, and final anticipated expenses for 2026 amounting to
$702,770,703.00, with the fund balance being used to make up the difference between
revenue and expenses.
No public testimony was offered concerning this matter.
Commissioner Maxey moved to approve Ordinance #262 on Final Reading, the motion
was seconded by Commissioner Ross. Commissioner James extended his appreciation
for the efforts of staff, commented on his understanding for the hierarchy of setting
priorities and further spoke passionately about the need to back-fill the funding gap for
ensuring the Victims Assistance Unit in the 19th Judicial District Attorney's Office as a
result of a legislative downfall. Commissioner James moved to amend the budget to
provide $80,734.00 from the General Fund to fund the Victims Assistance Unit position,
and Chair Buck seconded the motion for the purpose of discussion.
Commissioners Maxey, Ross, and Peppler shared their appreciation for the amendment
but respectfully declined to support the amendment to the motion. Upon a roll call vote,
the motion to amend the budget failed three (3) to two (2), with Commissioner James and
Chair Buck in support.
In turn, each Commissioner shared their support for the overall budget, despite there
being many hard decisions. There being no further discussion, Ordinance #262 was
approved unanimously on Final Reading.
The hearing was completed at 10:51 a.m. (Clerk's Note: Teams recording start timestamp
0:14)
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Hearing Certification — 2026 Weld County Budget
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The Board of County Commissioners of Weld County, Colorado, approved the above
and foregoing Hearing Certification, on motion duly made and seconded, by the following
vote on the 24th day of December, A.D., 2025:
[Insert H-Cert Attestation Block Post Meeting]
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