Larimer County adopts 2018 budget

The Board of Larimer County Commissioners formally approved the 2018 Adopted Budget today. The budget will total $486,134,100, which is a $6,071,940 reduction from the proposed budget. The County’s net operating budget [excluding non-operational transfers, capital projects and disaster costs] will be $258,512,943.

The Board also certified property tax mill levies for the county, cities, schools, special districts, Foothills Gateway, and abatements and refunds. The certification is the basis for the tax revenue collected by the County Treasurer. There is no change in Larimer County’s operating mill levy, which stands at 21.571 mills. To ease the impact on taxpayers from the increased property values determined in the 2017 reappraisal, the County Commissioners also included a credit equal to $2.5 million in property tax revenue through a temporary reduction in the mill levy.

Public safety is a focus in the 2018 Adopted Budget. The Board allocated more funding for the County Sheriff’s Office to account for higher incarceration rates and the rising workload facing patrol and investigation operations. Two Deputy District Attorneys were added to the workforce, and the County is providing over $737,000 of General Fund support for its Community Corrections programs.

Another critical area of the budget is the need to expand or replace many public facilities. The 2018 Adopted Budget allocates more than $111 million for capital projects, including funds to complete a new administrative building in Loveland, replace the Buckhorn communications tower, improve rural fleet facilities, construct a coroner’s office, expand the Loveland Police and Courts building, plan for increased capacity at the Larimer County Jail, and complete recovery work related to the 2013 floods.

Larimer County government includes multiple divisions and departments under the ten elected county officials established by the Colorado constitution. Almost all county services are provided to all 338,000+ residents of Larimer County regardless whether or not they live within city limits. The budget is organized into five service categories that describe the types of services delivered. They are:

• Public Safety Services

• Human and Economic Services

• Community Resources, Infrastructure, and Planning Services

• Public Records and Information Services

• Strategic Leadership and Administrative Services

The 2018 Adopted Budget will be available on the county’s website in January: Larimer.org/Budget.

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