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El Paso County posts $2.9 million revenue surplus, $4.48 million TABOR overage in unaudited 2024 results
Summary
At its April 15 meeting the El Paso County Board of County Commissioners heard unaudited 2024 year-end results from CFO Nikki Simmons showing a $2.887 million positive variance to revenue budget, an estimated $4.477 million TABOR overage and a net addition of about $9.9 million to the county general fund balance.
Nikki Simmons, El Paso County chief financial officer, presented the county's unaudited 2024 year-end financial results to the Board of County Commissioners on April 15.
Simmons told the commissioners that revenues for the unrestricted general fund finished $2,887,000 over budget and that the county had about an $8,000,000 positive variance overall in unrestricted general funds once grant timing and other items were included. She said the county's TABOR (Taxpayer's Bill of Rights) overage for 2024 is $4,477,000 and estimated that, if refunded the same way as prior years, that would amount to roughly $19 per residential property on taxes payable in 2026.
Simmons attributed a $2,600,000 variance in property tax revenue primarily to a state backfill the county received but had not budgeted for. Sales and use taxes were 1.85% above 2023 and about 99.4% of the 2024 budget. She said $5,900,000 in intergovernmental grant revenue (for example Natural Resource Conservation Service work) was not recognized in 2024 because the work remained in progress and the revenue will roll forward to 2025.
On expenditures, Simmons reported the county was $56,400,000 under its original expenditure budget. She said roughly $39,970,000 of that underspending represented reappropriations for projects still in progress and that, after reappropriations and a planned $12,000,000 conservative underspend that used grants instead of unrestricted funds, the county's true underspending for 2024 was about $4,400,000. Combining the revenue surplus and the true underspend, Simmons said the county was adding about $9,900,000 to the general fund balance for 2024.
Simmons also highlighted departmental variances: clerk and recorder recording fees ran about $2,600,000 (about 15%) below budget due to lower transactional activity; the coroner's fees were about 85% of budget (about $91,000 short) because fewer out-of-county autopsies were accepted while staffing was low; and sheriff fees ran about 80% of budget in part because concealed-carry permit activity declined and the county eliminated a "gateway" program that previously generated offsetting fees. She said treasurer fees were higher than budget because the state backfill required additional disbursement activity and related fees.
Simmons noted other funds and items of interest: the road and bridge fund's underspending mainly reflected projects carried forward; specific ownership and highway user taxes are state-collected and allocated locally; the county issued one new certificate of participation in 2024 to fund a sheriff's substation; and the county spent $19.3 million of $53 million in American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds in 2024, with the remainder reserved for projects (broadband, water, stormwater, parks) still in progress.
Simmons closed by reminding the board that auditors would be on site for about three and a half weeks to complete the audit and that more detail is available in the county's public financial dashboards. The board earlier approved the consent calendar (which included a retirement proclamation for Norma Ingalls) in a separate roll-call vote that passed 5-0.
Votes at the April 15 meeting on the consent calendar were recorded by roll call: Commissioner Brummer: yes; Commissioner Weiss: yes; Commissioner Applegate: yes; Vice Chair Williams: yes; Chair: yes.
