Colfax County commissioners debate cuts, reserves and staffing as FY25-26 preliminary budget is prepared

Colfax County commissioners spent more than an hour on a detailed review of the county's preliminary FY25-26 budget, hearing a live walkthrough of updated allocations from finance staff and debating how to cover a remaining shortfall.

The county's finance staff (identified in the meeting as Justin) told commissioners the workgroup had removed nonrecurring items and added back cuts already made to get an adjusted recurring budget. "Before those cuts were made, the deficit would have been $2,000,000," Justin said. After allowing for $740,000 in previously made reductions, he said the remaining shortfall was about $1,262,000.

The gap prompted detailed discussion of which departments could absorb further reductions and which services commissioners were reluctant to cut. Commissioners and department leaders flagged the sheriff's office, the detention center (BMDC) and the road fund as high-priority programs where cuts would carry immediate public-safety or operational risks. Commissioner discussion repeatedly returned to the concentration of costs in personnel: staff estimated roughly 70% of recurring spending is payroll, and one presenter observed that closing the gap by cutting employees would require eliminating on the order of 20 positions countywide (an approximate calculation discussed on the record).

Commissioners discussed using reserves to soften cuts. Finance staff reported the county's general-fund cash balance of roughly $9.5 million but noted some of those funds are restricted. Commissioners debated a proposal to pull from reserves to reduce the most severe impacts on public-safety departments. One commissioner proposed pursuing a local gross receipts option (a one-eighth GRT increase earmarked for public safety) to generate about $300,000 annually, but noted that revenue would not be available for up to roughly two years.

On process, commissioners agreed not to finalize every line now. Instead, they directed staff to send two budget versions (with and without allocations), to give department heads 24 hours to review line-item changes and to reconvene at a continuation meeting Thursday afternoon to adopt an interim submission to the Department of Finance and Administration. The commission did not adopt a final balanced budget during the meeting; rather, members directed staff to produce updated line-item proposals and to prepare for a follow-up meeting.

Commissioners and staff also discussed targeted interim measures: spreading some reductions across nonessential special appropriations, asking partner organizations to accept lower local funding this year, and considering temporary use of reserves to stabilize critical operations. Several commissioners said they wanted clearer options for making cuts that would preserve essential services while minimizing layoffs.

The commission scheduled a continuation on Thursday afternoon to finalize the interim budget submission and to consider any reserve transfers or targeted restorations for critical departments.