Garfield County commissioners told nonprofit and agency representatives Aug. 19 that the county faces a roughly $9,000,000 shortfall in property-tax revenue compared with last year, and that the gap is largely tied to lower oil- and gas-property valuations. County officials said they have imposed a hiring freeze and expect reductions in the county's discretionary grant program.

The commissioner leading the work-session opening said, "we are $9,000,000 short from last year in property taxes, and that's primarily due to oil and gas property taxes." He added the county's residential property tax revenue had increased slightly while the drop was driven by energy assessments.

The commissioner said the board has already taken steps to protect county employees, including a hiring freeze covering open positions and rejecting an attorney position request last month "to protect our existing employees so we don't end up at January 1 ... where we have to lay off existing employees." The board also directed staff earlier to reduce capital projects from an original $15,000,000 list down to about $4,800,000.

Commissioners told presenters they expect cuts to the county's grant program. "I would imagine at least a half million dollars is gonna be cut out of our $3,000,000 that we grant," the commissioner said. He said the board will not eliminate existing county full-time positions to preserve grant funding: "I'm not gonna cut an FTE to give a one of our grantees an FTE."

The board set an internal timeline for decisions: presenters were reminded the county's final grant awards would not be made until Oct. 21. Staff and commissioners also told smaller grant applicants (generally $10,000 or less) they could be shifted into a separate discretionary grants pot.

Background and next steps: County leaders said they reduced a proposed capital list presented in June from $15,000,000 to about $6,800,000 and further down to about $4,800,000 during recent deliberations. Commissioners said they will present final grant allocations to nonprofits at a public meeting on Oct. 21; exact cuts and individual award amounts were not described in the work-session record.

What commissioners asked of presenters: To keep presentations brief (15 minutes maximum) so the board could hear from all scheduled groups, and to expect follow-up questions from county staff regarding requests and priorities.

The board did not provide text of any specific ordinance or statute at the meeting. Commissioners described a resolution passed earlier that morning but did not provide the text during the public presentations.