Colorado must stop pushing unfunded laws on local governments, lawmakers say

By Rick Taggart, Janice Rich and Matt Soper | Commentary, The Daily Sentinel

When lawmakers pass a new bill, there’s one question we should all ask before we vote: Who’s going to pay for it?

Too often, that question goes unanswered. Across Colorado, local governments are being asked to carry out new state laws — on everything from wildfire codes to building standards — without the funding to make them possible. These are called unfunded mandates, and they’ve quietly become one of the biggest threats to local budgets and the essential services people depend on.

In Mesa County alone, these mandates now cost nearly $10 million each year. Statewide, the total is estimated at more than $360 million — money that could otherwise fund deputies, road repairs, or mental health programs. Instead, it covers the cost of laws the state created but didn’t fund.

Between the three of us, we’ve spent more than four decades serving in local government — as city council members, a mayor, a chairman of a special district board, a county clerk and recorder, and a county treasurer. We’ve balanced budgets and enforced the laws passed under the Gold Dome. We’ve seen firsthand how decisions made in Denver ripple through our communities. And we’ve come to one shared conclusion: Colorado must start paying its own bills.

State law — C.R.S. § 29-1-304.5—is clear: if the state requires a service but doesn’t fund it, local governments don’t have to provide it. That’s not a loophole — it’s a safeguard meant to protect taxpayers from the state shifting its costs onto local shoulders.

So when someone asks whether counties are “picking and choosing” which laws to follow, the truth is this: It’s the state that’s picking and choosing which laws to fund.

From our years in local government, we know how damaging this is. Too often, fiscal notes dismiss the impact on counties and cities with the phrase “minimal impact.” We know that’s not true. Those costs add up — and they fall directly on local taxpayers who already expect us to do more with less.

As members of the Joint Budget Committee and the General Assembly, we’ve pushed for fiscal notes that reflect real-world costs. 

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