Colorado Counties Push Back on Polis Over Costly ‘Unfunded Mandates’

By: Allie Jennerjahn | Denver7

DENVER — More than 40 Colorado counties have voiced concerns to Governor Jared Polis about laws being passed without funding. They claim it’s putting a burden on local governments, and in some cases, leave taxpayers to foot the bill.

The concern started in Mesa County when Commissioner Bobbie Daniel started to notice “unfunded mandates” getting brought up constantly when discussing budget.

“I asked, ‘Anyone tracking this? Is this something that we’re, collectively as an organization, tracking?’ And no, and we weren’t at the time,” Daniel said. “And so I said, “Let’s continue looking at this. Let’s track it and see what we come up with.'”

In Mesa County alone, Daniel tracked down almost $10 million a year in unfunded mandates.

“We realized that this is a really big problem,” Dainiel said. “Legislators are meaning well. Oftentimes they’re passing these bills, and they’re passing them one at a time. They’re not looking at them at a full scope. And so at the county level, we’ve been able to keep track and really sound the alarm here.”

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