Larimer County sets initial 2026 budget targets, asks departments to identify $6 million in cuts

Larimer County officials on May 21 set initial general‑fund planning targets for the 2026 budget and asked departments and elected offices to identify roughly $6,000,000 in expenditure reductions or avoidance, county staff said at a board work session.

"We have challenged our elected offices and departments to identify roughly $6,000,000 in expenditure reductions and at the very least expenditure avoidance in the future," Josh Fudge, the county's director of performance, budget and strategy, told the Board of County Commissioners. The work session served as a kickoff to the 2026 budget process, staff said.

County budget staff reviewed revenue and expense trends through April 2025 to explain why managers are seeking savings and service changes. Matthew Behunen, the county budget team lead, said countywide property‑tax collections are up about 3.9% versus 2024 (a change staff attributed in part to last year’s mill levy certification timing), sales tax receipts were up 1.4% through the early months of 2025, intergovernmental revenue was up about 22% largely because Larimer acted as fiscal agent for a Department of Natural Resources partnership on open‑lands acquisition, and interest earnings were down roughly 14% year over year. Behunen also reported that solid‑waste external charges were slightly…