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Pitkin County reviews fourth‑quarter supplemental budget requests including SNAP and RAFTTA pilot costs
Summary
Budget director Connie Baker presented fourth‑quarter supplemental requests Dec. 2 to align 2025 expenditures and incorporate previously approved items into the 2026 budget. Requests include SNAP direct client benefits, a workers' compensation premium adjustment, a $270,000 RAFTTA free‑fare reimbursement and increased county attorney professional services tied to Shoshone permanency work.
Pitkin County budget staff presented a series of fourth‑quarter supplemental requests Dec. 2 intended to clean up the 2025 ledger and ensure the 2026 budget reflects obligations and previously approved programs.
Connie Baker, the county budget director, said fourth‑quarter supplementals typically do not add new projects but adjust for items tracked through the year. The requests included a supplemental for direct SNAP client benefits (staff indicated the amount to be requested; an early spoken figure was corrected in discussion), an increase to the county attorney’s professional services budget driven by costs tied to Shoshone permanency work and a water‑inventory project, a workers’ compensation premium adjustment of roughly $90,000 following an audit, and a $270,000 item to reimburse RAFTTA for October–November free‑fare pilot costs.
Dan Flem, representing the sheriff’s office, asked for a supplemental to align the detention cash bond budget with a higher than anticipated cash bond intake this year; he said more defendants are posting cash bonds rather than surety, which increases cash‑handling and court transfer activity. County attorney staff explained that some professional services previously borne by the Healthy Rivers and Streams fund were reallocated to the attorney’s budget to cover legal and engineering work.
Board members asked for follow‑up information on the RAFTTA free‑fare pilot — in particular whether the program shifted trips from single‑occupancy vehicles to transit — and staff said survey compilation was incomplete and results would be presented later. Baker said the supplementals will appear for first reading the next day and come back for second reading with the 2026 budget adoption on Dec. 17.
Next steps: staff will bring first‑reading items at the Dec. 3 meeting, compile RAFTTA pilot results for a future EOTC meeting, and include other enterprise fund resolutions on Dec. 17.
