GILPIN COUNTY - Gilpin County’s elected state representatives held a Town Hall meeting on July 1, 2025, at the Gilpin County Courthouse in Central City to review for Gilpin residents the activities of the 2025 State Legislature. They were also there to field questions and concerns about the state government.

State Senator Dylan Roberts started the town hall meeting with a review of the big issues in the 2025 legislative session, with the biggest being the state budget. Roberts said that the 2025 state legislature was tasked with cutting $1.2 billion from a $19 billion budget.

The reason given for the cuts was the state constitution’s requirement that every state budget be balanced. Roberts pointed out that Colorado is doing fine economically but is restricted from retaining all the revenue collected because of the state constitutional amendment known as the Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights (TABOR).

TABOR’s formula for determining maximum annual growth in government spending is confined to consumer inflation and population growth. Roberts said that the TABOR formula doesn’t take into account other types of inflation or expenses that result in higher costs for public services.

As a result of this gap in funding, the session focused on how to provide services at an acceptable level and still balance the budget. There were not a lot of bills introduced that cost a lot of money or featured new programs because they weren’t feasible, nor would they pass.

Roberts said that the legislature was able to pass a balanced budget and through collaboration on the Joint Budget Committee, which tried to make cuts in an equitable and sensible way. One positive for Roberts was that they were able to avoid cutting K-12 education.

At the individual level, Roberts worked on affordability issues because that is the one issue that is a hot topic across his diverse district. Affordable housing got a boost from legislation, strongly supported in both chambers, that reformed the construction defect laws.

Another big priority for Roberts is natural resources. He said that it was a good year for water resources because those aren’t funded from the General Fund. Part of the money is coming from the Sports Betting tax. The legislature was able to invest significant money into the Colorado Water Plan.

Roberts was also involved in helping rural pharmacies stay open by helping them get fair reimbursement rates.

Public safety issues that Roberts championed included one from Gilpin County Coroner Zane Laubhan that requires hospitals to retain blood samples from a death for an extended time to help with the death investigation.

State Representative Lesley Smith said that her first session at the state house was a learning experience. Smith was able to use her experience as a BVSD board member and CU Regent on the House Education Committee to help preserve funding for K-12 education.

Smith was also involved in legislation that would have created a loan program to help low-income homeowners who need to replace their septic systems. The bill didn’t make it to a vote but she hopes to bring it back in 2026

Smith is also on the Wildfire Matters Committee and spoke about the new Sky Hammer helicopters that the state has acquired to combat wildfires.

Colorado State Board of Education (CBE) CD 2 board member Kathy Gebhardt was in attendance and gave a brief update on CBE activities.

The board was able to revise their grant program to more evenly distribute grants to rural districts to help those districts develop assets like computer and technology classes, or share counselors.

Gebhardt said that the federal government is currently withholding $70 million that was already allocated to the state for education purposes. It is unclear if the money will be released, but Gebhardt said that it would impact after school programs and teacher housing.

After the presentations, the representatives took questions and listened to concerns.

The first question dealt with a resolution questioning the constitutionality of TABOR. Roberts said that the resolution was dropped because it wasn’t going anywhere. He reiterated that some concepts in TABOR, like voter approval for a tax increase, are popular, but ballot questions to deal with some of the negative consequences of TABOR could be on the ballot in 2026.

Gilpin County Assessor April Nielson asked if the Senior Homestead Exemption was at risk of being eliminated in the next session. Roberts answered that cuts in federal funding to Colorado would have consequences on next year’s budget and eliminating the Homestead Exemption would have to be considered.

Former state senator Jeanne Nicholson asked if there were any intentions to change the formulas for disbursing gaming impact funds which Gilpin County relies on. Neither Smith or Roberts knew of any intention to cut the gaming impact to Gilpin but said that they would monitor the situation.

A final plea before the meeting ended was for more speeding enforcement on Highway 119. It was speculated that most of the residents in the room had been passed on a double yellow by a motorcyclist driving at dangerous speeds. The plea was for more Colorado State Patrol cars to be dispatched along 119.

All three elected representatives thanked their constituents for attending the meeting. They encouraged residents to contact them if there were additional questions or concerns.

Lesley Smith can be reached at 303-866-2578, or email her at lesley.smith.house@coleg.gov. To reach Dylan Roberts, call 303-866-4871 or email senrobertsoffice@gmail.com. Kathy Gebhardt's contact information is 303-908-4580 and state.board@cde.state.co.us.