Today the Board of County Commissioners approved the 2026 Weld County budget on first reading. It is both something to be proud of and a reminder that good can be the enemy of best. We have a budget that holds the line while building things you can actually drive on. We also skipped a few investments that real people will feel. That is the honest tension, and if you live here, you deserve to hear it straight.
First, the wins. The document runs more than 500 pages, and our finance team wrestled it to the ground with skill and patience. We are funding real infrastructure. That means serious work on County Road 66 north of the Greeley/Weld County Airport and on County Road 54 from Highway 257 to County Road 13. It means continued, pay as you go progress on the multiple projects that make up the Weld County Justice Center. I like budgets that pour concrete and deliver courtrooms more than budgets that pour slogans. On that score, this is a good year.
We kept the fiscal backbone in place. Spending is scheduled to rise 2.8 percent in 2026. Inflation sits around 3 percent. In plain English, that means the budget is flat in real terms. The mill levy stays at 15.956. Our TABOR limit is 22.038, so we will continue issuing a significant property tax credit. That practice has returned more than 1.4 billion dollars to Weld County taxpayers over the years. We have no county sales tax and we carry no debt. That is not normal in government. It is discipline. It is also freedom for families and small businesses who do not need another hand in their pocket.
Now the misses. I pushed to fund requested administrative staff for Sheriff Steve Reams to help implement Senate Bill 2025-003. I was outvoted. That matters. Without the help he asked for, law abiding citizens may face more friction in exercising their Second Amendment rights. I also supported the District Attorney’s request for an additional victims advocate. If you have ever met a victim who needed a human voice in a cold process, you know why. Again, denied. Finally, I wanted to strengthen Upstate Colorado’s economic development efforts. We either compete for jobs, or we watch someone else win them. We chose not to invest there this year. I disagree with that choice.
Even with those disappointments, I will vote for this budget. A budget is not a poem. It is a sequence of tradeoffs. The roads, the justice center, the fiscal posture, and the taxpayer credit are worth protecting. At the same time, I am already gearing up to fight for public safety support, victim services, and jobs work in the next cycle.
Here is where I intend to be louder. The last couple of years, the board has not set a clear, early policy compass for the budget. We have said yes and no to a list of requests rather than steering with a small set of written priorities. That is how you get drift. A budget should be the ledger version of a strategy. It should reflect what the elected body says matters most. For 2027 and beyond, I want the board to lock in a short list at the start of the process. Public safety. Infrastructure improvement. Capital investment. Then let every request live or die against that list. When everything is a priority, nothing is a priority. We can fix that.
We also have to face a hard external reality. Under Governor Jared Polis, the legislature has spent seven years targeting oil and gas. You can argue motives all day. You cannot argue outcomes. The policies are landing, and the revenue forecasts are softening. Oil and gas accounts for roughly 65 percent of Weld County’s budget. When the goose goes on a diet, the golden eggs get smaller. That is the backdrop for every conversation we will have in the next few years.
So what do we do? We get better. County staff heard me say it today. We must do more with less. That is not a slogan. It is a plan. We will lean into systems and technology that increase output without increasing headcount. We will streamline processes so citizens do not need a day off and a stack of forms to get an answer. We will audit our own habits and cut the steps that exist only because they existed last year. We will measure turn times and backlog and error rates, not just dollars spent. If something does not serve people quickly, we will fix it or we will stop doing it.
There is a culture piece, too. Over the past couple of years, we worked hard to make Weld County an employer of choice. We raised our game on pay and benefits, and we hired people who could work anywhere. That investment came with an expectation. In the coming budget years, I will ask our workforce to lead in efficiency and creativity. Mastery is the new mandate. The private sector calls it operational excellence. In government, it looks like shorter lines, faster permits, cleaner roads, clearer answers, and fewer surprises. It looks like a government that hums for the people.
I can already hear the counterpoint. Some will say that a flat real budget with tax credits and no debt sounds like austerity for sport, and that we should expand services when growth and need rise. I hear that. I am not against smart expansion when it is tied to measurable outcomes and a stable revenue picture. Others will ask why we would invest more in economic development or victims services when roads are still being built. Because safe streets and strong job markets are not luxuries. They are the engine that makes the roads worth driving. Finally, some will argue that oil and gas revenue is unreliable and that we should backfill with new taxes. I call that a last resort, and right now, for me, it’s a hard NO!. First, we squeeze out waste, modernize systems, and focus the mission. New taxes are a confession that we did not do the hard work first.
Here is the takeaway. We approved a 2026 budget that keeps faith with taxpayers and puts steel in the ground. That is good. We also passed on a few items that would have protected rights, supported victims, and sharpened our competitive edge. That is the work ahead. Between now and final adoption, and then into the next cycle, I will push the board to set crisp priorities at the start. I will keep pressing for tools that help public safety, for direct help to victims, and for a pro jobs posture that does not apologize for winning. I will keep defending a low mill levy, a strong tax credit, no debt, and the simple idea that smaller, smarter government leaves room for families and businesses to thrive.
If you are reading this as a Weld County resident, hold me to it. Ask where your dollars are going and how fast the work is getting done. Ask whether the process felt simple or built for insiders. Ask if we are measuring results. Then ask again. Your questions make us better. My goal is the same as yours. Build the essential, protect your rights, live within our means, and leave the place stronger than we found it.
