El Paso County commissioners to consider $13.08 million in proposed 2026 budget spending
The proposal would recognize $13.58 million in revenue and authorize $13.08 million in spending, including $12.45 million from opioid settlements, at the commissioners’ Sept. 22 meeting.
El Paso County commissioners are scheduled to consider a resolution Sept. 22 that would recognize $13.58 million in revenue and authorize $13.08 million in spending across several fiscal year 2026 county budgets.
The proposal, submitted by Chief Financial Officer Nikki Simmons and placed on the consent calendar, would recognize $13,577,321 in revenue and appropriate $13,082,189 in expenditures, according to the county’s agenda item and proposed resolution.
The largest source is $12.45 million in additional opioid-settlement money. The proposal would place that money in the county’s restricted opioid-settlement budget under “other professional services,” without identifying a specific program or project.
Other proposed appropriations include:
- $139,900 for county fleet-vehicle maintenance, funded by sales of fleet capital assets;
- $8,000 for Veterans Services’ 2026 El Paso County Veterans Expo;
- $264,308 in Community Services Block Grant funding for professional services;
- $213,311 in County Parks Trust donations for professional services; and
- $6,670 in Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities grant funding for professional services in the Office of Emergency Management.
The resolution also would recognize $470,000 in interest earned in drainage funds and released by the treasurer for the Haegler Ranch, Gieck Ranch and Ellicott Consolidated Drainage Basin Planning Study. That money appears in the revenue table but not the proposed expenditure table.
Another $25,132 in revenue — $28 in additional Justice Assistance Grant funding and $25,104 in Local Assistance and Tribal Consistency Funds deferred from 2025 — also is not included among the proposed appropriations.
Together, those amounts account for the $495,132 difference between the revenue recognized and spending authorized. The proposal does not specify whether that money would be transferred, reserved or otherwise treated.
The Sept. 22 meeting is upcoming, so the agenda and unsigned resolution establish a proposed action, not a final budget change. If approved, the resolution would revise multiple fiscal year 2026 budgets rather than create a single countywide spending program.