Commissioner Daniel: It’s Time for Fiscal Common Sense in Colorado

By Bobbie Daniel | Commentary, The Business Times

In the business world, there’s one principle that separates success from failure: You can’t spend what you don’t have. If a company tried to launch a dozen new initiatives without funding them, investors would walk, creditors would call, and the board would be out by morning.

Yet somehow, that’s exactly how the State of Colorado has been operating. Each year, new laws are passed that sound good on paper but come with no money to make them work. Those costs get quietly pushed down to local governments — and ultimately to taxpayers.

We call them unfunded mandates, and they’re the public-sector version of bad business.

Here in Mesa County, we’ve been tracking these costs for two years, and the numbers tell the story. This year alone, unfunded mandates are expected to cost our community nearly $10 million. That’s not a one-time expense — it’s an annual hit. Across Colorado’s 64 counties, the total yearly price tag is estimated to exceed $360 million.

If a private company ran that way, forcing its branches to take on new projects without covering the costs, it wouldn’t last a quarter. But that’s what the state has done to counties and cities for years.

Here’s the difference: Local governments, like local businesses, must live within their means. We can’t print money, run deficits or move decimal points. Our books must balance, our budgets must be transparent, and every dollar is traceable to the penny. In Mesa County, we refunded $11.5 million last year because that’s what accountability looks like under TABOR.

So, when the state passes laws and leaves the bill on the counter, it’s not just poor policy, it’s bad economics.

Under Colorado law (C.R.S. 29-1-304.5), if the state requires a service but doesn’t fund it, that mandate is optional for local governments. That isn’t a loophole; it’s common sense written into statute. You wouldn’t expect employees to hit a sales quota if you refused to stock the shelves.

When people say counties are “picking and choosing” which laws to follow, let’s be honest: It’s the state that’s picking and choosing which laws to fund.

That’s why Mesa County became the first in Colorado to formally tell the Governor and legislative leadership: Fund it or fix it. Since then, nearly 45 counties — ranging from rural to urban, and including both Republican and Democratic areas — have joined the effort. When something is this unsustainable, reality eventually wins.

This isn’t about politics; it’s about principles, the same ones that drive every successful business. You don’t expand until you can afford it. You don’t make promises you can’t pay for. And you don’t offload your costs onto someone else’s balance sheet.

READ THE FULL ARTICLE AT THE BUSINESS TIMES

Editor’s note: Opinions expressed in commentary pieces are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the management of the Rocky Mountain Voice, but even so we support the constitutional right of the author to express those opinions.