Each year, the Arapahoe County Board of Commissioners meets with elected officials and department directors for a Leadership Workshop. The two-day gathering for 2020 focused its discussions on the budgetary conditions and limitations Arapahoe County will face in 2021 and beyond.

This year’s meeting sought to establish priorities for possible service changes that can sustain the County into the near term with its current financial resources. Attendees also discussed options for funding a replacement for the County’s detention center and courthouse, as well as improving the transportation network.

The defeat by voters of Measure 1A last fall—which would have provided the funding for a badly needed detention center—means that the County will have to continue dedicating significant revenue to maintaining and repairing the crowded and deteriorating facility. Unfortunately, the ongoing financial and manpower demands of the detention center create ripple effects throughout the County budget, because money that could go to other programs and services must instead be spent shoring up the jail. This, in turn, means that the Board and County leadership will have to make difficult decisions about where to allocate County funding in the future.

The Board has elected not to submit a ballot measure in 2020. Instead, County officials will take a step back and complete a countywide strategic planning process to help determine priorities and financial impacts moving forward.

For more information about how the County collects, distributes and spends your tax dollars, visit our website.