MEEKER | It’s budget season for local governments, which prompts plenty of questions and opportunities to learn about how government budget planning works. Town Clerk Lisa Cook presented the draft 2026 budget last Tuesday, Sept. 16, and responded to questions from trustees.
Cook said the 2026 proposed budget is, “fairly equal to what we submitted last year.” The draft budget calls for a 4% cost-of-living adjustment for all employees, and includes an adjustment for higher health insurance and liability insurance costs and new software and security items. Cook said a grant to fund a school resource officer has been included but they don’t know if the grant has been awarded yet.
To balance, the proposed budget requires $2.2M from reserves for the general fund, and $35K from reserves in the water fund. The town estimates the year-end balance at $7M for the general fund and $915K for the water fund. Recently appointed trustee Jeff Madison shared concerns about needing to use reserve funds to balance the budget, given the conditions at the federal and state levels of government.
Cook and Mayor Travis Day explained that having something in the budget does not mean the money will be spent, noting that most departments regularly come in under budget at the end of the year.
“If we don’t spend it, do we need to budget for it?” Madison asked, noting that the general public may not understand the reasoning behind budgeting for expenditures that aren’t spent. “The public doesn’t see the details. They see the $2.2M out of reserves. Maybe we need to do a better job of explaining that.”
“The reason we keep those higher is if we have a really good project come in, it needs to be budgeted; just because it’s budgeted doesn’t mean we have to spend it all,” said Mayor Day. The budget planning process provides leeway for unexpected expenses and unanticipated revenue.
“We continue to budget very conservatively,” Cook said, noting that “all of the departmental budgets, they’re pretty much down to what we need to operate from.”
And while severance tax and mineral lease payments are down, sales and use tax revenue has increased.
The draft budget is available for review at Town Hall.
Meeker resident Ed Peck shared his concerns about psychedelics in Colorado. “My soapbox is psychedelics and I’m against them,” he said, adding, “Those of us who lived through the 70s remember that psychedelics were not our friends.”
Colorado Proposition 122 — the Natural Medicine Health Act — which passed in 2022, decriminalizes psilocybin, psilocin, DMT, ibogaine and mescaline (not from peyote) for personal use and legalized regulated therapeutic use for adults 21 and older. Commercial sale is illegal, and the substances are still prohibited under federal law. In 2025, the state of Colorado approved the first license for a psilocybin healing center in Denver. Cultivation facilities, product manufacturing facilities, and testing facilities, as well as healing centers, all fall under the “natural medicine business” umbrella. Only the healing centers are open to the public.
Peck said he would like to see some planning and preparation to “make it un-economic” for such endeavors to come into Meeker, noting that rules and regulations need to be in place before anyone applies for a license.
Trustees approved an application to the Yampa Valley Community Foundation Disaster Relief Fund for Elk/Lee Fires, which has provided an arm for distribution of donated funds through an ad hoc committee. A portion is reserved for agricultural industries, another portion for business, and one for basic human needs. The Town of Meeker will be the nonprofit applicant for small businesses, the conservation districts will work with ag needs, and the county’s department of human services is helping with basic human needs.
The results of a Colorado Department of Homeland Security and Emergency Management disaster impact survey show more than $3M in financial impact in the county from the fires.
Trustees discussed the planned workshop scheduled Tuesday, Sept. 23 with the board of the Eastern Rio Blanco Recreation and Park District to continue discussion surrounding the parks lease agreement. Town Administrator Mandi Etheridge recommended some kind of renegotiation. “I think all boards need to consider what’s best for the community,” Etheridge said.