Budget Summary 2004
$222,278,287

  Main | Expenditures | Revenues | Property Tax Disclosure | Changes  

Major Changes between 2003 and 2004 include:

• Boulder County’s budget for 2004 is down from the $235.7 million budget adopted in 2003. This reduction is due in large part to the decreased funds available to the Open Space Capital Fund. This fund includes the bond payments as well as declining funds remaining from the 2002 bond sale. These funds will be used for land acquisitions.

• The 2004 budget projects very limited revenue growth due to the current economic conditions. To balance the budget the Commissioners used the following fiscal constraints:
(1) no new personnel positions (FTEs) were approved, and 
(2) no increases to operating budgets were approved.

• In November, 2003, the voters approved a 5-year continuance of the county sales and use tax to provide for capital facilities for non-profit organizations. The Worthy Cause Fund revenues generated by the approved 0.05% sales and use tax begins January 1, 2004, and will end December 31, 2008. The 2004 budget in the fund is $2.168 million.

• In November, 2003, the voters approved a permanent extension of the county sales and use tax currently used to provide for the fire training centers for public safety. This will provide for offender management and services, including an expansion of the current jail, a new alcohol recovery center, and funding for alternative programs to incarceration. A new fund will be set up for the collection of the revenue generated by the approved 0.05% sales and use tax beginning January 1, 2005, so this fund is not included in the 2004 budget.

• The Fire Training Centers Fund was included in the adopted budget for 2004 for the first time. The voters approved this fund in November, 2001, to provide for capital facilities for fire fighter training. The $4 million budget is funded by a 0.05% sales and use tax that began January 1, 2002, and will expire December 31, 2004; and with unspent fund balance.

• The voters approved in the November, 2001, election an increase of 0.10% in the sales and use tax for seven years to fund transportation projects. The new tax rate went into effect on July 1, 2002, and is included in the Road and Bridge Fund. This fund does not include intergovernmental revenue for shared projects. It is expected that there will be specific projects in 2004 that will receive Federal and/or State revenues, and they will be budgeted when the amounts are known.

• The Retirement Fund increased to cover the anticipated cost of converting the County employees’ retirement plan to the Colorado Public Employees’ Retirement Association on April 1, 2004.

• The Capital Expenditure Fund budget decreased in 2004. It includes the construction cost to complete the Justice Center addition in Boulder, the Parks and Open Space Department building in Longmont and the partial cost of the new Communications
Center.

Other Items of Interest:

• The salary and benefit package for County employees in the 2004 budget included the increased contribution for the new retirement plan, a market adjustment to selected job classifications, and a sliding-scale salary adjustment to employees earning less than $50,000 per year to help offset the increased cost to employees for retirement benefits and health insurance.

• The allocations to non-profit agencies received an average increase of 3% over the 2003 funding level.

• The total mill levy for the County in 2003 (for taxes collected in 2004) is 20.088, which is very close to last year’s mill levy of 20.087. This total includes a levy of 0.121 mills to recover property taxes abated in 2003 and a temporary mill levy reduction of 3.657 mills, as allowed by State Statute.