County presents 2026 preliminary budget: $501.5M in revenues proposed, no new FTEs and $7M one‑time for roads

El Paso County Chief Financial Officer Nikki Simmons presented the county’s proposed 2026 preliminary balanced budget to the Board of County Commissioners on Oct. 7, outlining revenue forecasts, reserve policies, and proposed one‑time and ongoing allocations.

Simmons said the county is proposing $501,500,000 in total budgeted revenues and that, after accounting for restricted sources, roughly $309,000,000 would be available to allocate among funds. The administration proposed a conservative 2.5% sales‑tax growth forecast for 2026 and estimated $90,000,000 in property tax revenue under preliminary assessor certification.

On expenditures and staffing, Simmons said administration is not recommending any additions to full‑time employee authorizations for 2026 and proposed an average 3% total compensation adjustment. "We are not recommending any cuts to operations or personnel," Simmons said, describing the budget as intentionally recession‑resistant.

The presentation emphasized reserves and risk management. Simmons said the county is targeting a 23% fund‑balance reserve (above the minimum practice of two months) and is holding a separately appropriable $10,000,000 emergency reserve. The county also plans to refund $4,480,000 to residential property taxpayers — roughly $19 per household — as part of 2024 surplus distributions to be applied to 2025 taxes payable in 2026.

Roads and infrastructure were highlighted as a central priority. Simmons said the preliminary Road and Bridge budget would total roughly $40,000,000 for 2026, including $7,000,000 in planned one‑time funds and $5,000,000 in ongoing funding that together support a $12,000,000 pavement preservation target. She said the county has increased ongoing road funding substantially in recent years from a 2014 baseline of about $14,000,000.

Human services and mandated matches were addressed. Simmons said the county budget includes an estimated $27,000,000 in county match for state human‑services allocations and described uncertainty tied to recent federal‑ and state‑level changes affecting Medicaid and SNAP redeterminations (referred to in the presentation as HR 1). The presentation noted the county has not included potential changes from that legislation in the preliminary budget because state funding and implementation details remain unresolved.

Simmons also outlined internal cost pressures: a projected 8% increase in total health‑insurance costs for the county and a modest premium increase passed to employees ($2.66 per paycheck for employee‑only coverage up to $11.12 per paycheck for family coverage), representing about a 5% employee premium increase.

Capital and one‑time requests in the package include park upgrades (tennis, pickleball and archery improvements at Bear Creek Regional Park), two facility roof replacements, two parking lot replacements and continued funding for a sheriff's northeast substation currently under construction.

Process and next steps: Simmons said this presentation opened the public hearing cycle. The BOCC will hold budget hearings Oct. 21 and Nov. 4 and expect to present an adopted budget in December. Simmons said the county has published a line‑level, interactive budget on the county's ClearGov site to increase public transparency and invited public comment at upcoming hearings.

Why it matters: The budget sets operating priorities and identifies how the county will allocate sales tax, property tax and fee revenues across public safety, human services and infrastructure; the presentation emphasized maintaining operations without layoffs or base reductions while preserving reserves.

What commissioners asked and said: Commissioners asked for greater detail on the dollar impact of the projected 8% health‑insurance increase and on how the 23% reserve target would combine with the separate $10,000,000 emergency reserve. Several commissioners praised the budget's transparency and the new online presentation tools.