Rio Blanco County Commissioners, administrators, staff and volunteers from RBC’s various departments, boards and tax districts have met for a combined total of more than 15 hours this month to comb through numbers, review funding requests and set final proposed changes to the 2024 budget based on county goals. The budget process is ongoing through Nov. 17.
Budget Overview
Highlights
You can access the county’s latest proposed budget accessible as of Oct. 16, 2023, at https://rbc.us/160/Budget-Finance by clicking “View Most Recent Budget” at the bottom of the page. Due to changes proposed during budget workshops, departments turning in proposed budgets after the 16th and the possibility of additional budget changes before Nov. 17, some of these numbers will not reflect final totals.
The online budget page can create a customized budget booklet, or view budget information directly, including fund balances, expenditures and revenues by department and fund, personnel changes, planned capital improvements, funding transfers and more.
Operating Revenues and Expenditures
The county is projecting $28.3M in revenue in 2024, an 8.6% increase. Budgeted expenditures are projected at $34M, a 2.5% increase. The top expenditure increases overall are:
– Supplies: Increased significantly by 112.2%, from $1,079,955.85 to $2,151,803.58.
– Projects: Increased by 33.7%, from $2,448,610.19 to $3,615,000.00.
– Purchased Services: Increased by 14.7%, from $2,722,768.25 to $3,651,695.86.
– Contract Services: Increased by 12.1%, from $1,479,268.00 to $1,797,938.00.
– Professional Services: Increased by 21%, from $316,909.18 to $487,970.50.
Top expenditure decreases for 2024 are:
– Contingency: Decreased 9.2%, from $2,472,043.01 to $1,501,900.00.
– Capital Outlay: Decreased 5.7%, from $777,090.00 to $249,368.60.
– Miscellaneous: Decreased 98%, from $15,300.00 to $300.00.
– Grants: Decreased 87.7%, from $150,057.73 to $18,338.61.
Within the General fund, the county is projecting $10.6M of revenue in the 2024 fiscal year, an 18% increase. Budgeted general fund expenditures are projected to decrease by 3.7% or $485.03K to $12.73M Within those categories some highlights noted during the Oct. 16 budget review were:
Interest earnings” increased by more than $1M
Food assistance has been adjusted from 2M to 1.5M due to decreased thresholds caused by COVID-19
“Purchased services” is a line item that is up by about $500,000
Revenue Changes
Based on interest rate projections for 2024, RBC is budgeting for an increase of $1.9 million which will be enough to offset the largest revenue decrease under Intergovernmental Services.
Property tax revenues are expected to increase by $1.7M in 2024 as a direct result of the oil and gas assessed valuation increasing 40% from the prior year. This increase represents at least a short-term reversal of a long-term trend since 2014. Property tax revenue projections could change depending on the outcome of Proposition HH. Similarly, three revenue streams (Federal Mineral Lease, Severance Tax, and PILT) allocations have continued to increase. This year the county received $4.4M from these distributions, compared to $3.7M in 2022, $1.7M in 2021, $1.5M in 2020 and $4.4M in 2023.
These funding sources (FML Severance and PILT) are expected to decline in future years. Public Health funding will also decrease with reduced ELC and COVID-related funding. Food assistance under the Department of Human Services (DHS) is being cut from $2M to $1.5M due to decreases in both costs to run the program and in federal funding allocations to the county. Overall county revenue is projected to increase by $1.3M over 2023 revenues.
Capital Funds
Capital Improvement Plan (CIP)
The Capital Improvement Plan (CIP) accounts for any budgeted expenses over $100K that are infrastructure related. The fund collects revenue through a variety of sources including grants, donations, and BOCC allocations from taxes. RBC is projecting $950K in revenue for the CIP, a 19.5% decrease, budgeted expenditures are set to increase by $671.5K (56%) to $1.87M. Three projects listed under CIP are:
Columbine Park improvements – $200K total budgeted expenditures funded by $100K in grant funds and $100K transfer from Use Tax fund
Carryover for the Meeker Airport waterline replacement
Meeker Airport fuel farm replacement — $1M total budgeted expenditures which will be offset by a $750K Department of Local Affairs (DOLA) grant award.
Capital Expenditures Fund (CEF)
The CEF covers expenditures over $5K and includes budget allocations for tower site HVAC replacement ($12K), Radio Replacement ($60K) and Emergency Management ($10K).
OTHER FUNDS
Other funds noted are the Conservation Trust fund which has $26K budgeted for continued heating upgrades at the fairground, and the American Rescue Plan fund which will transfer $2M to the Capital Improvement Fund. Pending additional federal grant funding set to be finalized sometime in November, broadband expansion will also receive $400K from the General Fund as contingency.
CAPITAL REQUESTS
Nine total capital improvement projects requested but not initially included in the 2024 proposed budget total $807K. Specific requests are for ongoing White River Museum restoration and repair ($27K), Rangely public health/human services office roof replacement ($34K), software upgrades ($10K) desktop/laptop replacements ($171K), SAN refresh ($250K), surveillance camera system refresh ($250K), cybersecurity software ($56K), 5-year fiber upgrade plan ($126K) and handheld radio replacements for the sheriff’s office ($126K).
Long term (5 year) capital requests not included as ongoing capital funding items include
– $200K for tower switches that connect equipment such as wireless towers, HVAC monitoring, cameras and wifi, security access etc.
– $331K for dispatch console replacements
– $1.8M for Meeker Airport ramp reconstruction
– $11M for Rangely Airport taxiway relocation
Grant Funds
County Capital Improvement Fund (CCITF)
The projected CCITF balance for the end of 2024 is $21,465,766 following increased revenues on interest earnings totaling $592K. Fund expenditures are only listed at $900 pending public requests from local entities seeking CCITF grant funding.
Commissioners Discretionary Grant Fund (CDGF)
The CDGF is allocated revenue from utility sales taxes and will have just over $200,000 left at the end of 2024 based on proposed expenses of $67,000 for 2024. Budgeted items include $10K for community service and $50K for ongoing remodeling projects yet to be assigned. Examples of potential projects that could fall under the $50K noted by Facilities Administrator Eric Jacquez range from replacements of doors, heaters, lighting, signage and various other items.
WILDLIFE MITIGATION
The 2024 budget includes a new expense under contract services for a $150K wildlife mitigation contract that will fund one full-time and one part-time contracted position. In the past the program was funded by a handful of agricultural producers but that method has become less feasible due to increased demand/workload which is expected to further increase with reintroduction of wolves to Colorado. The contract’s total cost to RBC is $120K thanks to $30K offset in federal funding via the USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) program.
WHITE RIVER MUSEUM
White River Museum
The White River Museum’s budget will increase by $2k to $44k total in 2024 and pays for one full time position, in addition to workers’ comp/payroll costs, custodians, tour guides/teachers, grant writers, building repairs and management of more than 4K hours in volunteer service opportunities. The museum asked for the increase based on a tight budget in 2023 following increases in utility bills ($18K) total, payroll costs and ongoing building maintenance/repair and security/operation upgrades.
FAIR BOARD
The Fair Board budget is set to increase by 13.27%. Additional expenses of just over $5,000 are primarily associated with efforts to bring in new judges for fair which are expected to incur expenses such as reimbursement for travel time.
