County approves $102.96 million in reappropriations; sales tax growth steadies to 1.99% in 2025

The El Paso County Board of County Commissioners on March 3 approved a resolution to reappropriate $102,963,000 from 2025 contracts, purchase orders and projects into the 2026 budget. Nikki Simmons, the county’s chief financial officer, said the reappropriations include remaining ARPA funds, NRCS flood recovery funding, several stormwater projects, $800,000 toward Fox Run renovations, ongoing enterprise resource planning (ERP) project funding and a major capital allocation for the Pikes Peak Communications radio‑network upgrade.

Simmons described the roll‑forward as standard budget stewardship that prevents the loss of authorized funding for multi‑year projects. Commissioners praised the transparency of the process and the administration’s conservative approach to multi‑year capital planning. The resolution passed unanimously.

In a related presentation Simmons provided final 2025 sales and use tax results. Combined county‑wide sales/use tax receipts were roughly $167.9 million (a 1.99% increase year‑over‑year). Retail activity alone was up about 1.34% for the year; December 2025 retail receipts were roughly 5–8% higher than December 2024 depending on category. Building‑materials use tax showed a sharp increase (driven by one large commercial development that remitted in December). Simmons said the county needs approximately 1.8% year‑over‑year growth in sales tax receipts in 2026 to meet the adopted 2026 revenue assumptions.

Why it matters: The reappropriation preserves funding for major multi‑year capital and IT projects; the sales‑tax update sets the near‑term revenue context for the county’s 2026 budget and underscores sensitivity to small percentage swings in consumer activity.

What’s next: Departments will continue multi‑year project implementation; finance staff will monitor monthly collections against the 1.8% growth target and bring updates to the board if variances emerge.