Boulder County approves third-quarter 2025 budget amendments across multiple funds

Boulder County commissioners on Sept. 25 approved a slate of third-quarter 2025 budget amendments affecting the general fund and several dedicated funds, the board’s Office of Financial Management said at a public meeting held at the county courthouse in Boulder.

“Today, I’ll be requesting guidance and approval on the third-quarter budget amendment requests, and we will start with the general fund,” Emily Beam of the Office of Financial Management told the Board of County Commissioners during the presentation. The board voted on each item after a public-comment period produced no speakers in person or virtually.

The amendments include one-time carryforward budgets for unspent 2024 project funds, a county contribution to a regional hazardous-materials facility, funding for an appraisal of a specific property, vehicle and equipment replacements for Public Works, and the acquisition of a conserved property. The board approved each item by voice vote; minutes show unanimous “Aye” responses for the motions taken.

Key approved items and background

- Assessor: A one-time general fund amendment of $35,000 to allow the assessor’s office to contract with a professional appraiser for the property at 6300 Diagonal Highway in Boulder. The assessor presented the request via Office of Financial Management staff.

- Information Technology: A one-time carryforward of $1,516,712 in the general fund under capital outlay to allow IT to spend unused 2024 budgets.

- Office of Financial Management (employee parking): A one-time $95,000 amendment in the general fund under General Administration to cover employee parking charges for 2025 after the board directed free employee parking in downtown Boulder garages following a space-optimization study.

- Hazardous Materials IGA contribution: A one-time transfer of $183,810 from the general fund to a dedicated facilities replacement-fees appropriation to make past-due Boulder County contributions whole for the regional hazardous materials management facility. Beam said the intergovernmental agreement (IGA) for the facility—originally established in 1992, expanded in 2003 and updated in 2014—requires each party to contribute an additional 5% of annual operations costs to a restricted fund managed by Boulder County; the county had missed contributions for some years between 2018 and 2022.

- Sheriff’s Office: A one-time general fund amendment of $595,907 to address projected shortfalls for alternative boarding and jail medical expenses within the sheriff’s appropriation.

- Road and Bridge fund and transportation projects: The board approved depositing $7,500,000 in interest revenue into the Road and Bridge Fund (Fund 111); staff established $4,642,269 of that amount as spendable in 2025 and will carry forward the remainder into 2026. The board also approved a $1,998,000 amendment for fleet replacements (two Western Star tandem dump plows, two John Deere graders, and two Ford F550 units), and smaller amendments to carry forward approved 2024 transportation projects.

- Reclassification of US-36 North Foothills bikeway project: Following a County Attorney Office review, the board approved moving $700,000 from the dedicated resources fund (Fund 117) to the Road and Bridge Fund (Fund 111) because staff determined the project is a roads-and-bridges activity.

- Dedicated resources and program carryforwards: The board approved carryforwards including $930,430 in Fund 117 for transportation sales-and-use-tax projects and $105,078 in the Sustainability Sales Tax Fund (Fund 136) to allow completion of previously approved 2024 programs.

- Opioid settlement disbursement: The Community Services Department’s request for a $1,133,082 one-time amendment in the Dedicated Resources Fund (under the national opioid settlement appropriation) was approved to allow full project spending permitted under the Colorado Opioid Abatement Council disbursement agreement.

- Parks and Open Space acquisition: The board approved a $750,000 one-time amendment in the Parks and Open Space Fund (Fund 126) to fund acquisition of the Cliffside property on Stone Canyon Road.

- Clean Energy Options LID closeout: Staff requested and the board approved a $999,869 amendment in the Clean Energy Options Local Improvement District fund (Fund 129) to close out the fund in accordance with the original Feb. 2010 bond resolutions; staff said the LID’s debt was paid in full and there is no remaining voter-approved debt capacity.

- Recycling center and other funds: The board approved a $114,266 carryforward for the Recycling Center Fund (Fund 199) and other small carryforward amendments tied to previously approved projects.

Public comment and board discussion

No members of the public signed up to speak in person or virtually during the public-comment period for the Q3 budget amendments. Commissioners offered brief remarks thanking staff for their work preparing the amendments and noted that many items reflect unspent 2024 funds that are being carried forward into 2025 spending plans.

Natalie Springett, commissioners’ deputy, clarified the process before votes: “Just to clarify, this Q3 budget amendment is a public hearing process. So we should let Emily Beam present on the items and then open it up to public comment prior to votes being issued by the board.”

Votes at a glance

The board approved each item listed on the Q3 amendment agenda by voice vote; meeting records show unanimous approval for all motions called. The motions were called in sequence as numbered on the agenda (2A1–2A5; 2B1–2B4; 2C1–2C2; 2D1; 2E1; 2F1; 2G1). For each motion the transcript records an affirmative voice vote by the three commissioners in attendance.

What’s next

With the board’s approvals, staff may implement the approved transfers, carryforwards and purchases as described in the requests. Several items—most notably the Clean Energy Options LID closeout and the hazardous-materials facility contribution—refer to existing intergovernmental agreements and bond resolutions that govern how the funds are spent or closed out.

The meeting adjourned after the votes and no further public comment was received.