Arapahoe County staff seek to roll nearly $12 million in project funds into 2026; general fund reserve raised to 15%

Arapahoe County finance staff on Feb. 1 asked the Board of County Commissioners to approve a series of reappropriations that would move unspent 2025 budget dollars into 2026 to complete ongoing capital projects and close out encumbered purchase orders.

In a detailed presentation, county finance staff said reappropriations should reflect the same intended purpose as the original appropriation and typically cover outstanding purchase orders, ongoing capital projects and grant balances not on a reimbursement basis. "There are a couple different reasons for that, but the request should be for the same intended purpose," the finance presenter explained.

The staff summary to the board identified roughly $12,000,000 in project completion requests, led by items including the detention center medical expansion and the county’s taxation system rollout. Finance staff said the county is also continuing work on a $2.5 million taxation system implementation and a $1.5 million additional courtroom for Courthouse 2. IT requested $1.6 million in total reappropriations, including an estimated $750,000 for the Aumentum renewal to allow the old and new systems to run concurrently.

Lisa Stairs of county finance gave department-level highlights: salaries exceeded budget by about $2.2 million at year end, and services and other contracted costs accounted for roughly $9.3 million in variance — of which about $4.1 million is being requested to roll forward. The sheriff’s office requested about $1.2 million, which includes $415,000 for booking fees and a roughly $256,000 RISE-related balance. Central services asked to reappropriate roughly $3.9 million for replacement vehicles and computer hardware.

Staff emphasized that some funds have their entire balances carried forward because of restrictions or the nature of the fund; examples include the electronic filing technology fund and the open space sales tax fund. Finance noted a timing-related posting that temporarily inflated the open-space balance (staff said roughly $17.4 million was posted in the share-back but that amount would appear lower at the public hearing due to posting timing).

The presentation also previewed a resolution to raise key policy reserves. "For the general fund, we increased that from 11% to 15%," the finance presenter said; staff calculated that 15% figure at $42,900,000. The board was told the road and bridge and social services reserves are calculated differently and that the resolution will include language allowing two years for certain funds to reach policy levels.

Staff said they verify assets and invoices before finalizing rollforward amounts and will return the reappropriation requests for public hearing on March 31. If approved as recommended by the executive budget committee, the current EBC numbers would increase the general fund appropriation by several million dollars from the baseline.

Commissioners asked clarifying questions about specific invoices and how program balances (for example, weatherization shelter and eviction-legal contracts) are being handled; staff confirmed some requests cover outstanding invoices rather than replenishing program budgets. The board indicated informal support and signaled they would consider the resolution and supplemental items at the public hearing.

The county will post the reappropriation documentation after the March hearing and update fund balances before departments may spend any rolled-forward funds.