Budget blues make commissioner see red

By JoAn Bjarko
North Forty News

It's a battle of numbers in Larimer County government these days, following an exchange of verbal volleys between the sheriff and the commissioners over who gets and spends the most money.

A public display of budget discord erupted Aug. 7 at the county fair when Commissioner Glenn Gibson came upon the sheriff's department distributing a letter complaining about potential budget cuts. Gibson put a stop to handing out the letter throughout the fairgrounds, but the sheriff's department was allowed to continue distribution from its information booth.

Gibson said later that he was not trying to censor the sheriff, an elected official, but he is concerned that other elected officials don't have the same lobbying opportunities.

"The midway is not the place," Gibson said. "I asked for it to stop, and he stopped."

In the letter, Sheriff Jim Alderden said his department is understaffed by 21 positions in patrol and investigations when compared with similar-sized Colorado counties.

Alderden contended that his department has not received funding increases that were promised when voters "de-Bruced" the county in 1999. That vote exempted Larimer County from the Taxpayers' Bill of Rights authored by anti-tax activist Douglas Bruce. When de-Brucing was presented to voters, county officials said funding priorities for the extra dollars would be law enforcement, public facilities, roads and bridges. That commitment was not in the ballot language itself, however.

Commissioners Gibson and Tom Bender were not in office in 1999, but they both said they have honored the funding commitment. Commissioner Kathay Rennels, first elected in 1998, also defended the commissioners' actions toward public safety funding. The county has laid off about 70 employees in the past two years, but Rennels noted none of those came from law enforcement.

Tax income

It is difficult to calculate what may have happened had voters not supported de-Brucing. County budget manager Bob Keister estimated that the county took in $41.5 million more in tax revenue in the last five years than it would have with the TABOR limits (about 7 percent annual increases) still in place. The county population grew 37,000 in the same period.

Large annual increases in the tax base are history, however, Keister said. Property values in Larimer County are leveling off, he noted, with the 2005 increase in value at 2.59 percent. Annual increases in taxable value peaked in 2000 at 17.8 percent.

Larimer County is looking at more layoffs next year, said county manager Frank Lancaster. "People will be losing their jobs in this budget," he said, "but we will certainly try to do as much as we can by attrition."

Keister explained that current projections show the county will collect $1.7 million more in property taxes next year. If the sheriff runs exactly the same program next year, for example, it will take $2.2 million just to cover the usual increases such as employee raises and jail operating costs.

Sheriff's budget

Alderden's letter warned county residents that he will have to reduce law enforcement services to meet the commissioners' request for a list of possible budget cuts totaling $1.5 million. Cuts, though fewer, he said, will still occur if the department is limited to a 3 percent increase - the upper limit commissioners have set for the portions of budgets that rely on local tax support.

At a community meeting on Aug. 16, Alderden said cuts of 5 percent could result in 30 layoffs. Alderden asked his audience to recommend what cuts should be made, but instead received support for all of the services in place.

"The sheriff's department is an agency that takes care of so many people," said Barbara Trevarton, manager of Cloverleaf Mobile Community on East Mulberry. "I can't imagine a service you could cut."

Responding to the sheriff's criticism, the commissioners stated on Aug. 17 that many of Alderden's complaints are inaccurate or misleading. "The sheriff's department has received more than 2.5 times as much additional funding (from discretionary tax revenue) as any other county department," the commissioners said. "... From a staffing perspective, growth in county employees has been almost exclusively in the public safety area since 1999."

The county groups the sheriff's department, district attorney's office and the coroner's office as the "public safety" component of the county budget. Together, their equivalent of full-time employees has increased 75.25 since 1999. Public safety is allocated $42 million in this year's county budget compared with $16 million for general government.

Budgeting dilemmas

In Larimer County, the commissioners set the budgets for each department, including those headed by other elected officials. The commissioners have to approve each new permanent job position, but department heads otherwise have wide discretion on how to spend the dollars in their budgets.

Earlier this year, the commissioners asked each department to develop a menu of cuts that total 5 percent of their budgets that are supported by county tax revenue. Some departments - such as solid waste - are totally supported by fees. Other departments - such as health - rely heavily on state and federal funds, grants and fees. For example, Dr. Adrienne LeBailly, director of the county health department, said her menu of cuts will total $118,430. About $2.3 million of her $7 million budget is supported by county taxes.

It's the county manager's job to give the three elected commissioners a proposed balanced budget by Oct. 15. Lancaster said that he will have three lists of numbers to work with: budgets based on a 3 percent increase, a list of prioritized cuts from each department totaling 5 percent, and a wish list of projects the county would like to fund. If the county chooses to fund something on the wish list, the revenue will come from something on the list of potential cuts. In effect, one department's cuts could fund another department's needs.

For example, Lancaster said, it will cost the county $600,000 a year to improve how suspects are handled between the time they are arrested and when they are convicted or released. A better pretrial system could reduce costs at the detention center, however, and postpone a jail expansion, he explained.

Lancaster also has to devise how to fund increases in employee health insurance premiums. PacifiCare is asking for a 26 percent increase, but Lancaster said he hopes to negotiate a lower figure. Larimer County pays the total premium for its full-time employees, but not for their families.

The county also wants to upgrade its retirement benefits to be more competitive with other employers, Keister said.

Larimer County has a bright note, however: healthy general fund reserves. The county used $3 million in reserves to balance the '04 budget. Over the next several years the county could tap into $12 million and still have enough reserves to protect its bond rating. Lancaster said he anticipates using about $3 million from the reserve fund for the '05 budget.

"I think that frustration has been aired and that now we can work toward a good budget," Rennels said.

Budget hearings

County commissioners will take comments on the county budget and spending needs anytime. "Typically people don't comment until their project doesn't get funding," Lancaster noted.

County residents will get their first look at spending for 2005 in mid-October. Budget hearings are set for Nov. 22 in Fort Collins and Nov. 23 in Estes Park. Comments can also be sent to the county's web site at www.larimer.org/budget/survey.htm. Commissioners have until Dec. 17 to make final changes.

Looking toward a future of tight budgets, Gibson said he believes in the next few years the county will have to ask voters to approve a combination of sales taxes and property taxes to fund public safety, especially increases for the alternative sentencing unit, which gives low-risk offenders an option to spending time in jail.

"We're not going to the public (for tax increases) until we have done everything we can internally," he added.