Boulder County commissioners this week adopted a $493.2 million budget for 2021, which comes with pay raises and bonuses for employees.
The commissioners said the pay boosts were a nod to the challenges employees faced in 2020.
“As we adopt the budget for 2021, we’d be remiss not to acknowledge that 2020 has been a year like no other with the COVID-19 pandemic, two wildfires, and having to adapt to a completely new public service model in an altered, socially distanced environment,” Commissioner Deb Gardner stated in a news release. “It’s been a challenging year for residents and employees alike, and for our front-line employees and those whose remote working environments have added stresses to their lives and workloads, we are grateful for their continued dedication to Boulder County.”
“... We wanted to ensure that our committed and resilient employees were compensated fairly, felt appreciated, and had the resources to continue to deliver the best in public service under these trying circumstances,” Gardner stated.
The budget for next year is up $53 million from the 2020 adopted budget of $439.9 million, according to the release.
The increase is due to one-time budgeted expenditures of proceeds related to the certificates of participation and voter-approved Parks and Open Space bonds received in 2020, the release stated. The certificate of participation proceeds will mainly be used to build out the East Boulder County Housing and Human Services Facility in Lafayette, and the open space bonds will be used for land acquisitions, according to the release.
Boulder County’s 2021 property tax rate will be set at 24.771 mills and does not include any temporary mill levy credits.
Also, $19.1 million in flood recovery reimbursements and grants from state and federal agencies in response to the 2013 flood are projected for next year, the release stated. The reimbursements will be applied to outstanding flood recovery balances.
The county has not added any new permanent or new term full-time equivalent employees to the 2021 budget.
The salary and benefits package for employees includes a 1.6% cost of living adjustment, a merit pool funded at 1% and a one-time bonus of $1,000 per employee to help offset a portion of significant increases expected in 2021 for employee-borne health care costs and additional contributions mandated by the Public Employees Retirement Association, according to the release.
The 2021 budget also includes $1 million for planning and design of the voter-approved Boulder County Alternative Sentencing Facility to be built at the Boulder County Jail site.
In addition, the budget funds capital items totaling $1.4 million for replacement equipment items at the Boulder County Recycling Center.
In 2020, Boulder County issued certificates of participation for one-time capital projects to be budgeted in 2021. Those include the buildout of the Eastern County Housing and Human Services project in Lafayette in the amount of $9.2 million and other planned projects for $11.5 million, according to the release.
Capital outlay appropriations include $1 million for the second phase of implementation of the new software system for the sheriff’s office; $900,000 for the purchase and implementation of sheriff’s office body-worn cameras; and $2.2 million for vehicle replacements to keep the county’s fleet current, the release stated. The installation of electric vehicle charging stations at county facilities also will continue.
The total funding for flood recovery projects is $8.6 million across all county funds, a decrease of $11 million from the 2020 budget, the release stated.
In addition to funding for flood recovery repairs, the Road and Bridge Fund budget contains $7.2 million for the maintenance and rehabilitation, as well as $10 million for dedicated transportation sales tax projects, the release stated.
