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Nov. 22 - Dec. 6, 2011
In This Issue
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Board Appointments
Sheriff's Office Grants and Agreements OK'd
2012 Budget Adopted
Open Space Purchase Approved

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Board Appointments  

At the BCC Nov. 22 hearing, the commissioners approved the reappointment of Dale Reisbeck to the Jefferson County Housing Authority Board.

 

The Housing Authority Board is responsible for providing assisted housing programs for low to moderate income seniors and families, housing rehabilitation programs and new acquisition programs.

 

Sheriff's Office Grants and Agreements OK'd

At the Dec. 6 BCC hearing several items were approved for the Sheriff's Office.

 

The first was a grant for $129,656 from the Bureau of Justice Programs. This grant will reimburse costs associated with the detention of foreign-born inmates in the Jefferson County Jail for the fiscal calendar year of 2010. The approval also covers the process of this award's acceptance in calendar year 2011.

 

The second item was an intergovernmental agreement (IGA) with the city of Lakewood for the management of the Local Edward Byrne Justice Assistance Grant solicitation. The city will act as the fiscal agent for the grant project. For 2011, $25,000 from this grant fund went to the Sheriff's Office Emergency Management Office to support part-time funding of the Colorado LifeTrak care specialist, and equipment for the Patrol Division in the form of Intoxilyzer replacement as directed by the state of Colorado.

 

The third item approved was the grant application for funding from the Emergency Management Performance Grant/Local Emergency Management Support funds (EMPG/LEMS). The grant helps fund local emergency management programs. For 2011, the county received $110,000 and it expects to receive a similar amount with this application.


 

 

 

2012 Budget Adopted

2009 Proposed Budget PresentationAfter nine months and more than 34 public meetings, the Board of County Commissioners (BCC)  at its Dec. 6 public hearing adopted the 2012 Jefferson County Budget of $476,277,696.

 

This amount, which includes interdepartmental transfers, is a decrease of 0.1 percent, or $605,153, from the 2011 Adopted Budget. The BCC also established the mill levy of 24.346, which continues the temporary reduction of 1.632 mills and is the same mill levy as this year.

 

Despite the decrease, next year's budget includes $3.5 million for the presidential election and $30.5 million for various capital projects related to infrastructure improvements, facility improvements, technology enhancements and fleet acquisitions and replacements. An allowance has been set aside in each department's budget to be used at the discretion of the department head or elected official for ongoing, one-time or equipment needs.

 

The 2012 budget also takes into account lower revenues from decreasing property values and increasing demands in departments such as Human Services where there has been a rise in clients but a decrease in state and federal funding.

 

Another decrease occurred in the number of full-time positions. During the past year, departments have eliminated vacant positions. As a result, 2,887 full-time equivalents (FTE) were approved for 2012, which is a net decrease of 42.5 FTEs from the 2011 Adopted Budget.

 

Pursuant to state statutes, the BCC also sits as the board for two other entities, the Meadow Ranch Public Improvement District and the Jefferson County Law Enforcement Authority (LEA), and is responsible for adopting the budgets and establishing the mill levies for them. At the public hearing, it adopted the 2012 budget of $161,863 with an adjusted mill levy of 9.275 for the Meadow Ranch Improvement District and $9,446,901 with an adjusted mill levy of 3.200 for the LEA.

 

To view the 2012 Budget, click here or go online to www.jeffco.us/budget.

Open Space Purchase Approved

The Board of County Commissioners at its Dec. 6 hearing approved the purchase and sale agreements to acquire 613 acres for Open Space as an addition to Coal Creek Canyon Park in Jefferson County.

 

The first agreement will add 574 acres to the system at a price of $3,735,612.60. The second agreement will obtain 39 acres at a price of $259,974. These land acquisitions will protect a large tract of unfragmented wildlife habitat, movement corridor adjacent to existing Jefferson County Open Space lands and other public properties. It also will provide possible future trail connections.

 

The purchase was recommended by the Open Space Advisory Committee, which approved the final terms of the agreements at its Oct. 6 meeting. The land is being paid for with Open Space Bond Funds and the Open Space Sales Tax Fund. 

Update from Development and Transportation

At the Dec. 6 staff briefings, the commissioners heard the latest on what has been going on in the county's Development and Transportation Department.

 

First up was the Airport Division. The Rocky Mountain Metropolitan Airport reported on how operations are up 2.14 percent compared to 2010 but fuel sale is down 12.15 percent. The Runway Safety Area Improvements are moving forward. The Environmental Assessment was completed in August and phase one of the project will begin in 2012.

 

The county's Building Division, which is responsible for building permits and codes, conducted 1,733 plan reviews, issued 9,665 permits and performed 31,914 inspections. It also emailed 34,278 inspection results. The Building Division uses an online system that enables permit holders to get inspection results almost immediately.

 

In 2011, Planning and Zoning kept busy updating and revising the Comprehensive Master Plan and various community plans that were rolled into the Comprehensive Master Plan after being adopted by the Planning Commission. These plans provide land use guidance to citizens and county staff. Planning and Zoning also launched "PD-Lite," which is an abbreviated way of handling certain land use cases that saves citizens time and money by greatly simplifying application processes.  

 

Next up was Road and Bridge. During the 2011 overlay season, in-house crews placed 76,000 tons of asphalt, covering 118 lane miles. Contractor crews placed 26,000 tons covering 35 lane miles. Crews saw a 191 percent overall increase in asphalt patching following the 2009 purchase of a rotomill machine and specialized paving equipment. There was a 15 percent increase from 2010 to 2011. The division worked on the NEAT Village trail in Evergreen, the 6th Avenue Frontage Road Sidewalk project, Belcher Hill Road Improvements near White Ranch Park, and much more.   

 

The briefing concluded with 2011 updates from the Transportation and Engineering Division. Crews are completing repair work to McIntyre Street Bridge this month, and also completed safety projects at Simms Street, Belleview Avenue/Alkire Street and Alkire Street/Cross Avenue.

 

Click here for more information on Development and Transportation. 

View BCC Meetings Online!   

Did you know Jefferson County records each County Commissioners Hearing for rebroadcast on its website?  You can also find recordings of other county meetings, videos of events and Jeffco's video program, Jefferson County Insights.  To learn more, visit the Jeffco Media-on-Demand site.