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Westminster staff warns of $750M–$1B state shortfall, flags bills that could shift costs to local governments
Summary
City contract lobbyist Amy Atwood told Westminster councilors the state faces a $750 million–$1 billion budget gap driven largely by Medicaid costs, and staff highlighted a three-bill tax package, data center measures, an HOA reserve-study bill and traffic-penalty legislation as items the city is tracking.
Amy Atwood, the city’s contract lobbyist, told Westminster councilors on a staff briefing call that Colorado faces a projected state budget shortfall of between $750,000,000 and $1,000,000,000 and that “the big culprit of that is Medicaid.”
Atwood said changes in federal Medicaid funding that previously reimbursed roughly 90 percent of expansion costs could force the state to cover a larger share, leaving lawmakers to choose between cutting services or provider rates rather than removing people from rolls. She said the legislature’s next official revenue forecast is due March 20 and that the Joint Budget Committee will use that figure to finalize numbers before the state budget is expected to be introduced at the end of March.
Why it matters: Atwood warned that because state departments may lack funds to enforce new programs, fiscal impacts from state bills tend to be pushed down to local governments. “So if it is something that impacts the local government, those unfunded mandates will grow,” she said, urging councilors to watch bills with local fiscal exposure.
Bills and items staff flagged
- Tax package: Atwood said a three-bill package (House Bills 1221, 1222 and 1223) has been introduced; two of the bills (HB1221 and HB1223) would create a tax credit tied to number of children and household income. Staff said they are reviewing the measures and will advise whether Westminster should take a position.
- Data centers: Staff have sent two data-center bills (referred to in the briefing as House Bill 1030 and House Bill 102) out for comment to assess the local-government fiscal or regulatory impacts.
- Traffic penalties (SB35): Atwood updated that SB35, which would increase penalties and driver-license points for improper passing and repeat speeding violations and require CDOT to prioritize no-passing signage in high-crash areas, passed out of the Senate Transportation Committee and was referred to Appropriations with a modest fiscal note; staff offered to prepare a position paper.
- Homeowners association reserve rules (HB1099): Councilor Jessica Ireland asked staff to review House Bill 1099, which would require reserve studies and developer reserve contributions for common-interest communities. Ireland said she is concerned about a provision that would require new HOAs to adopt 30-year reserve studies, calling that approach potentially costly for nascent associations.
Other items: Participants asked about an RTD (Regional Transportation District) restructuring item that staff said had not been introduced yet and about a local-government vehicle-identification-systems bill (referred to as HB261071); Westminster police told staff they were not planning to deploy such cameras on local highways. Staff also noted they maintain an online Westminster bill chart of roughly 60 bills the city is reviewing.
What the council asked for and next steps: Councilors asked staff and counsel to prepare position papers on SB35 and HB1099. Atwood said staff will continue to monitor bills, circulate updates and return with recommendations in the coming weeks.
Attribution: Quotes and attributions in this article come from participants on the briefing call and are drawn from the staff presentation and subsequent discussion. The briefing was framed as informational; no formal council votes or actions were recorded during the call.
The meeting adjourned after staff confirmed follow-up and an upcoming report-back to the council.
