Issues

The new direction:

Park County is taking a new approach to road maintenance. With the hire a Director of Operations with a career in CDOT and road building projects, he now oversees Public Works and hired Nick Bredsnajder our new Director of Public Works. Nick has a great road construction and administration background and is making huge strides in our road maintenance. This new leadership providing a new direction will deliver new results.

With our new Public Works leadership, Park County is developing a list of all county roads and ranking them from worst to best in each of the maintenance regions. In the winter and spring of 2024 Road and Bridge is building an inventory of gravel, clay and magnesium chloride, all binders needed to rebuild roads. Starting with the most critical roads in each region first, roads will be rebuilt to hold a surface, not just graded. This will be a multi-year endeavor, but the end result will provide noticeable improvements.

Eleven Mile Access County Roads 90 and 92

Since 2022 I have been fighting for funding to rebuild Park County roads that provide access to our State Parks. Working with State Senator Mark Baisley and Colorado Counties Inc., we drafted legislation SB23-059, to request the Colorado Division of Natural Resources, DNR, dedicate a portion of the excess proceeds from the Keep Colorado Wild State Park Pass to a grant for the maintenance and rebuilding of state park access roads. In 2023 the amended bill was passed by the Colorado Legislature and signed by Governor Polis. As amended the bill will allow local governments to add a $2.00 stipend to day park passes for road maintenance. It is recognized the stipend will not be enough to rebuild the roads, but over several years will assist with maintenance costs. Additionally, the bill will study the access road challenges and traffic beyond county numbers and make funding needs recommendations to DNR. I am involved in the study process and working diligently to communicate the dire need.

In 2023 I applied for $13.8 million in Congressional Designated Spending Federal Grants through Senator Bennet and Hickenlooper to rebuild and chip-seal CR's 90 and 92. Unfortunately, our road needs did not fit into the Senate grant criteria. In 2023, I also applied for a $2.4 million Community Project Funding, CPF, Grant from our Congresswoman. Park County was awarded $825,000 through the Transportation, Housing, Urban Development Committee appropriations and passed by congress. Now in 2024, the grant is being administered to Park County Public Works to make improvements to CR's 90 and 92. The finished roads will have a 6-8" base augmented with gravel road base and magnesium chloride binding material. The surface of the roads will hold much longer and provide a foundation for chip sealing when additional grant funding is obtained.

Colorado Forest Collaborative (CCFC), Advisory Council member since November 2023.

On July 26, 2023, the Wildfire Mitigation Specialist with Colorado Coalitions and Collaboratives, COCO, brought together a group of wildfire mitigation specialists and area leadership interested parties to discuss the United States Forest Service’s (USFS) Wildfire Crisis Strategy focused on the Pike National Forest. Initially the group was called the Southern Colorado Fireshed Advisory Committee. Members of the Pike National Forest Leadership (USDA), the Pike District Rangers, the National Forest Foundation, Colorado State University, Denver Water, Colorado Springs Utilities and Colorado State Forest Service entities came together to discuss shared-stewardship planning efforts and to form a comprehensive wildfire mitigation strategy throughout the Pike national Forest and surrounding private property.

The USFS has received major funding for wildfire mitigation is specific areas, including the Pike and has new tools to support and aid in the effort. The work is visible across Park County. Since that first July 2023 brainstorming meeting the entity was renamed the Central Colorado Forest Collaborative and an Advisory Committee was formed to develop a comprehensive working structure. A full suite of mitigation activities will be included along with aligning evacuation route clearing, working closely with fire districts, residents, agencies and diverse partners. The effort will lead to co-creating proprieties across the initial CCFC delineated area.

I have been working on this effort since the July 26, 2023, meeting, with the goal to build upon the work already performed in Park County and plan for future efforts. By identifying work performed in the Pike, building a plan to connect the areas of private property where great benefit can be gained with mitigation efforts, and then asking for funding from The Colorado Division of Fire Prevention, I hope to improve the overall resiliency of our county and residents.

Wildfire Matters ten-member Legislative Interim Committee

On July 18, 2024, I presented to the Wildfire Matters 10-member Legislative Committee vial Zoom to discuss Park County and the unique challenges of wildfire mitigation in a large land mass county, small population/resource county. The Committee is planning on running five bills in 2025 and are interested to learn where more assistance is needed.

My first ask was to make more mitigation funding available to property owners where an HOA may or may not exist to apply for the funding. Discussions will continue if and how these funds could be administered to property owners to pay for labor and slash removal.

My second comment was the need for a market for slash and logs too small for milling outside of the use for firewood. It would be great if the piles of slash and logs throughout Park County could be used for a positive benefit.

I also discussed the extreme challenge with homeowner insurance. Insurance companies do not look at the risk for each home, they lump the homes into a region and category and apply the risk on a broad basis. This results in some homeowners being rejected for insurance when they have mitigated and could qualify. This is a big challenge, but the Committee has been made aware of the problem.

Many of us have decided to retire in Park County, myself and my husband included! We made the choice to live in a great place, though it can be a challenge for older residents living in a remote location. We will never have the convenience of living close to groceries and services, but I want our Seniors to have the ability to age in place and enjoy living in Park County.

I am Vice Chair for the Pikes Peak Area Council of Governments’ (PPACG) Commission on Aging. Our goal is to help older Coloradoans age in place, to stay in their home as long as they want to. Our efforts throughout Park County, Teller County and El Paso County focus on improving access to healthcare by expanding tele-health in the County, to simplify a digital visit with a doctor.  Other goals to strengthen caregiver support, promote social engagement and inclusion and create age-friendly housing and transportation are in the works. We have ambitious 4-year goals. I am also involved with input on legislation that focuses on helping older Coloradoans through the Colorado Center for Aging. This work does not happen overnight, but we are making progress.

PPACG helps fund The Senior Coalition who has established several great programs: a frozen meals program with freezers situated in Guffey, Lake George, Fairplay and Bailey. These meals are available for those in need. We also have a volunteer driver transportation voucher program for people who need a ride to a doctor or grocery store. The volunteer receives payment for providing a ride. We have a chores program for those who need help making their home safer with ramps to doorways, installing grab bars in the bathroom and other safety improvement assistance.

Government zero-based budgeting is kind of confusing if you are used to a profit structure budget along with a business profit and loss statement and a balance sheet type format. Here is an explanation of the budget and a 2024 budget summary.

Here are links to the 2024 budget summary of all funds and the revenue chart and expenditure chart. The full county budget and associated information can be found here: County website - budget

The county budget is managed and divided into funds. Funds are segregated by revenue source.  You can see by the attached summary; we have many different funds. The general fund is mostly property taxes rounded figure $11,500,000, plus other grant revenue and State and Federal revenue that is tagged to specific mandated services. That adds to $18,900,000 rounded.

Under the general fund we take care of Assessor, Commissioner, Clerk, Coroner, Sheriff, Surveyor, Treasurer, Admin, Budget and finance, 911 communications/dispatch, District Attorney, IT, Colorado State University Extension, Facilities and maintenance, Emergency Management, Libraries, Public Health, Development Services incl Building, Planning, Environmental and Code Compliance, GIS/Mapping, South Park National Heritage (Fed funding), incl. Historic Preservation, Wilkerson Pass Visitor Center, Veterans Service Officer, Broadband. 

We then have other stand-alone Funds that receive restricted revenue that can only be used for a specific purpose. Please see page 5 of the full budget for an explanation of other funds we have: Human Services, County Grant, E-911 Authority (dispatch), Conservation Trust Fund, Land and Water Trust Fund, Debt Services, ARPA Grant, Bailey Library Fund, Sheriff Search and Rescue and Seizure, Road and Bridge (Public Works), Capital Projects, Retirement, 1041 Fee Account, Lodging Tax and Risk Management Fund.

Example: Public Works is mainly funded by the Colorado Highway User Tax Fund that is provided by the State only for road maintenance. We cannot spend general fund monies on roads, per Colorado Statute except the HUTF state allocation or any specific grants that we get. We also have a small property tax mill levy for Road and Bridge (public works) that you can see on your tax bill to help with administrative costs. If you look on page 55 of the budget you can see the revenue received for Pub Works, HUTF, permits, grants, leases, etc.

Expenditures are provided by each department and fund manager starting in August for the coming year’s budget. The expenditures are subtracted from the revenue in each fund. We land at our Estimated Fund balance at the end of the year. The summary of All Funds 2024 Budget clearly shows the math.

We maintain a reserve balance in all funds. Mainly because we must pay January, February and March county vouchers before property taxes are collected and processed.  Also, just in case there is an unexpected emergency like a major blizzard, and we need extensive plowing on the roads (R&B Overtime and equipment), or other unexpected needs. Each fund must survive on its own, so we need to plan accordingly. Park County and all Colorado Counties cannot deficit spend. At the end of 2024 we will have an estimated $3.9 million balance in the General Fund, $2.8 million in Pub Works, $7.9 million in Land and Water Trust fund, mainly because projects have been approved but not all the work has been completed and expended to the project. The fund balances add up to $12.8 million that WE CANNOT SPEND!!!

Lastly, we have two Internal Service Funds, Fleet Services and Self-Insurance Fund. We Allocate these to the specific departments based on employee use of vehicles for county function or health care. We maintain a healthy reserve in these funds to make sure we can cover unexpected needs.