Larimer County commissioners are considering asking voters for additional funding in 2027. How much additional revenue the county may need — and whether it will come from a sales tax, a property tax, or another source — has yet to be determined, but without more money, the county faces cuts to public services.
That was the message Commissioner Jody Shadduck-McNally presented during Visit Estes Park’s July board meeting on Thursday afternoon when she said revenue increases will be necessary to meet funding needs.
Revenues and spending will be the focus of the commissioners’ budget retreat at the Larimer County Administrative Services Building, 200 W. Oak St., Fort Collins, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on July 29.
“We are looking at critical services that will be impacted and cut,” Shaddock-McNally said. “We have absorbed $20 million in costs coming down from the feds and state this year in painful ways, and we cut formally on budget,” she said.
Wildfire protection, public safety, and family crisis support, the top priorities for county residents as identified in a resident survey conducted in late 2025, currently need financial infusions totaling up to $8.7 million, as shown in county-produced material Shadduck-McNally shared with the audience.
In addition to the top survey priorities, $26 million is needed for roads and bridges, and spending another $35 million to reduce wildfire-related contaminant risks to watersheds would benefit the majority of residents, including those in Fort Collins and Loveland, the handout says.
“We know critical services are more expensive and imperative because we have rising costs, increased risk with wildfire, and growing demand,” Shadduck-McNally said.
Saying the county has a structural deficit, Shadduck-McNally pointed to several budget drivers, including public safety cost increases due to state mandates, equipment and operations, road and bridge maintenance that has risen from $1 million to $2.5 million per mile, human services costs that are expected to rise because of changes in federal law, and growing watershed protection.
Shadduck-McNally said additional funding also is needed to ensure the county’s $23.3 million emergency reserve fund. She pointed to the Cameron Peak Fire, the 2013 floods, and the 1976 Big Thompson Flood as reminders that counties must pay disaster costs long before federal reimbursements arrive.
“The minute a natural disaster happens, that’s the day recovery starts,” Shadduck-McNally said.
Budget priorities are being shaped through Choose Larimer’s Future, a public engagement campaign that began late last year. More than 60,000 survey responses have been collected, and 7,000 public comments have been received. Residents can still provide their thoughts online at ChooseLarimersFuture.com.
“We work for you,” Shadduck-McNally said in urging county residents to respond to the survey. “The county works for you. We work in partnership with our municipalities, organizations like Visit Estes Park, and housing authorities. We value those partnerships. We are better together,” she said.