Douglas County approves $11.76 million supplemental budget appropriation

Douglas County commissioners unanimously approved an $11,756,809 supplemental appropriation for fiscal 2026 on Aug. 11, raising the county’s amended 2026 budget to $768,732,172. Resolution 04-26 affects seven funds and authorizes funding for sheriff’s programs, roads and communications infrastructure, wildfire mitigation and the county’s biochar facility, according to the county’s budget resolution.

The action followed a public hearing at the Douglas County Board of County Commissioners’ land-use meeting. The meeting video records a motion, second and unanimous voice vote but no named roll-call tally.

The appropriations were:

• General Fund — $652,790: The money includes $17,169 for the Sheriff’s Office Support Services/Technology Section from the sale of old equipment; $8,871 for Major Crimes from the sale of seized assets; $560,000 for jail-based behavioral health services from the Colorado Department of Human Services Office of Behavioral Health; $30,000 for the Colorado Correctional Treatment Board program; and $36,750 from unassigned fund balance for biometric screening in the detention system.
• Law Enforcement Authority Fund — $84,697: The appropriation includes $65,000 in Colorado Department of Transportation high-visibility-enforcement and DUI grant revenue and $19,697 from a CDOT Law Enforcement Assistance Funding award for the Sheriff’s Office detention program.
• District Attorney JD23 Fund — $200,000: The money is for the District Attorney’s District MO Allocation, described as an intergovernmental agreement involving the transfer of remaining assets from the former 18th Judicial District for digital-evidence information-technology costs. The detailed table labels the source “Fund Balance,” while the resolution’s summary places the amount in its new-revenue column.
• Road Sales and Use Tax Fund — $3,094,559: The money covers Colorado Department of Transportation reimbursement for invoices 5 and 6 on the County Line Road widening project from Broadway to University.
• Justice Center Sales and Use Tax Fund — $19,763: The appropriation supports the Sheriff’s Office communications-network simulcast project and represents Denver Water’s 50% cost share for a generator at the Deckers radio tower.
• Parks and Open Space Sales and Use Tax Fund — $260,000: Restricted fund balance will support the Sandstone Ranch access road ($90,000), Spruce Mountain forest access road ($80,000), and wildfire and prescribed-fire equipment ($90,000).
• Solid Waste Disposal Fund — $7,445,000: The amount includes $100,000 from restricted fund balance, based on money received from the City of Aurora under an existing agreement, for the Douglas County Biochar and Waste Diversion Site. It also includes a $7,345,000 transfer from the Road and Bridge Fund, described as savings from road projects to fund biochar-facility infrastructure and construction.

The supplemental-budget attachment classifies $11,360,059 as “New Revenue Received” and $396,750 as “Use of Fund Balance.” The fund-balance total matches the explicitly identified $36,750 General Fund, $260,000 Parks and Open Space, and $100,000 Solid Waste Disposal appropriations.

The records do not separately identify a carried-forward grant. Grant-related appropriations for behavioral health, correctional treatment and law enforcement are described as new revenue. The $7.345 million Road and Bridge transfer is an internal transfer, not outside revenue. The classification of the $200,000 District Attorney appropriation remains inconsistent between the line-item source field and the summary columns.

The action authorizes the county to spend or recognize the listed amounts; it does not establish that all the money has been spent.