Jefferson County staff on Aug. 5 asked commissioners to approve a small change to the county's Conservation Trust Fund allocation policy and to move $500,000 from a community partnership subaccount into the County Park and Trail subfund.

Hillary Merritt, deputy director in Parks and Open Space, told commissioners the county receives a share of Colorado Lottery proceeds allocated for parks, recreation and conservation. Under a 2021 policy the county had been allocating 82% of annual lottery proceeds for County park and trail projects, 6% to Betcher Mansion, 5% for Beaver Ranch Park in the Conifer area, and 7% for a community partnership grant program that funds small projects in unincorporated areas.

Merritt said staff proposes increasing the parks-and-trails allocation to 85% and reducing the community partnership grant share to 4%. That change would lower the community partnership annual disbursement from about $115,000 to about $65,000, Merritt said. Staff also proposed returning $500,000 currently held in the community partnership account to the parks-and-trails subfund to ensure a healthy balance for county projects. Merritt said the County Park and Trail subfund would remain just under $10 million after the transfer.

Commissioners asked questions and expressed support. One commissioner highlighted the lack of park-and-recreation districts in parts of the county, saying Beaver Ranch Community Inc. provides services in Conifer and that county lottery proceeds help support that nonprofit'run park service.

Staff said they believe the reduced community partnership allocation will still support the number of small project applications the county expects to receive.

The action on Aug. 5 was a staff briefing and request for direction; commissioners indicated unanimous support to move the policy update forward and to include any needed budget or ordinance language for a future business meeting.