Arapahoe County officials told the Board of County Commissioners on Monday that shifting federal rules and budget reductions threaten an estimated $100,000,000 or more in annual federal funding that supports county programs and services.

At a study session, Michelle Halstead, with the commissioners' office, said the briefing was intended to “provide you updated information on what we currently know about federal funding and what we currently don't,” and to outline how changes at the federal and state levels could affect county budgets and services.

County finance staff said federal and pass‑through funds account for roughly 18% of the county’s $571,000,000 total budget in the finance office’s preliminary estimate. Todd Weaver, finance, and department directors said the largest federal shares flow to human services and workforce programs. Weaver described the scale in a slide deck: “about a $100,000,000 or over a $100,000,000 comes in from the federal government to fund our programs and services. Our total budget is 571,000,000, so that's about 18% of it.”

Why it matters: county staff warned that a combination of federal policy changes (including new rulemaking and a pending 2026 federal budget process), and state revenue declines tied to changes in federal tax law, could force significant reductions in state and local services. Halstead said Colorado is facing a multihundred‑million dollar budget gap and a special legislative session in August to start addressing the shortfall.

Key program impacts and figures cited by staff include:
- Human services accounts for the largest federal share in the county budget (presented as about $64,000,000). Staff noted the county serves nearly 1,700 TANF households and that workforce programs assist roughly 18,000 people through WIOA and Wagner‑Peyser funding.
- Public health receives federal and state funds; presenters reported roughly $7,700,000 in federal/state public health grant funding and cited recent reductions to immunization, public health emergency preparedness and WIC allocations.
- SNAP, Medicaid and work‑requirement rule changes were identified as the most likely to raise workloads for county caseworkers and workforce centers. Kathy Smith (community resources) and Dan McKelvick (human services) described a possible SNAP increase of “about 25,000-ish” people who could become subject to work‑requirement processes and said Medicaid redeterminations could affect a much larger number, with estimates discussed in the briefing of up to roughly 50,000 people depending on state actions.

On nonbudgetary policy changes, county staff flagged a proposed reinterpretation of PRWORA (the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act) and recent federal rule activity that could change eligibility verifications for public benefits. Halstead summarized that “the federal government is essentially limiting their investment in social programs and associated caseloads” and that states can try to maintain service levels but Colorado may lack the revenue to do so.

Speakers repeatedly emphasized uncertainty. Halstead and others said some actions are paused or delayed by litigation or pending guidance; for example, rule changes tied to citizenship verifications were described as delayed until September 10 in the briefing. Staff also highlighted an executive order announced July 24 described as focusing federal funding on responses to “crime and disorder” and raising questions about future HUD‑eligible activities and harm‑reduction programs.

What the board asked staff to do: commissioners asked for ongoing briefings and links to the special session proceedings; staff said they will return with more detailed assessments, models of potential workloads for workforce centers and suggested options for the 2026 county budget process.

What commissioners said: Commissioners expressed concern about potential downstream effects—on food banks, domestic‑violence shelters, child welfare and detention costs—if benefits and community services are reduced. Commissioner Fields summarized the point bluntly: “Those are big numbers and that's just for Arapahoe County.”

Ending: Staff said the county cannot yet quantify final budget impacts and will present updated, department‑level estimates as federal and state decisions become final. Commissioners asked staff to provide regular updates so that the board can consider budget priorities and potential “backfill” options as the 2026 budget cycle proceeds.