Mindy Leary, Gilpin County. On Tuesday, June 30, 2020, the Gilpin County Board of County Commissioners met for their regular meeting online at 9 a.m. Commissioners Gail Watson, Linda Isenhart and Ron Engels were in attendance, as were County Manager Abel Montoya and County Attorney Bradford Benning. The highlights included a Covid-19 update, a liquor license renewal and a presentation on the reorganization of the County and reduction in workforce.

Public Health Coordinator Bonnie Albrecht said there are now seven cases and seven more tests today. All of the tests they have done on site have fortunately been negative. 

Emergency Manager Nate Whittington, Head of EOC (Emergency Operations Control), has been working on a dashboard that will be used with a geographic confirmation system to give accurate bed counts in hospitals.

Deputy Clerk Sharon Cate presented an annual liquor license renewal for Pickle Liquors. All paperwork was in order and a motion was passed unanimously to renew the license.

After some confusion on the correct Zoom links, there were 88 participants in the meeting preceding the issue of County reorganization and reduction in workforce presented by Montoya. Even though casinos are open, the safeguards in place greatly restrict their revenue. The county has already experienced a 3 million dollar drop in revenue from casino closures. 

Prior to Covid, Gilpin County had 146 full-time employees and 60 part-time staff. Effective May 2 to July 10, the County had furloughed and temporarily closed the recreation center, equaling 60 staff members resulting in a savings of one million annually. 

Many scenarios were evaluated to cut costs. The current recommendation is to strategically reduce salaries by 20%, close the community center and all park and rec funding along with the $300,000 given to the library from the general fund.

Business-as-usual would result in a $30 million deficit to the County, hence the need for major change. In order to carry the County forward, $6 million in cash flow is required, and only two scenarios were candidates. One scenario was to cut all salaries by 50%, the degree of impact being severe. The other scenario is the one aforementioned.

The County is proposing the following permanent modifications which will go into effect immediately. The proposed reduction to the budget would total $2.1 million. 

Human Services continues to have senior and veteran services and plans to mitigate the effects of having the community center closed by having a substance abuse youth program and a youth leadership program.

A new department is being proposed called “People, Culture, and Finance,” which is a combination of HR and Finance. Community Development and Public Works will combine and a hire a new head. Also the County will hire full-time custodial employees instead of contracting with Omni.

“A group of resident volunteers could help form a committee to spearhead the viability of a park and rec district in Gilpin County,” said Montoya. 

The County staff could facilitate the discussion of this committee until the committee is ready to propose a service and finance plan to the Board of County Commissioners before August 2021. 

Anticipated cost to run the community center with current amenities is $2 million per year and would equate to an extra 2 mills of additional property tax.

Watson responded with a statement, “This is not something that we look forward to doing.” She continued, “But it is not a statutorily-mandated department and counties are political subdivisions of the state.”

No other county in Colorado has a county-funded rec center, rather they are funded by special districts. The county must maintain essential services like human services, law enforcement, and emergency services.

Montoya then fielded questions by resident participants. Many residents inquired about raising taxes. Montoya encouraged those to attend future community meetings. 

The vote on this issue was preceded by a statement from Commissioner Engels, “Clearly this is a sad day and a sorrowful one; one that people won’t soon forget.” He compassionately wished blessings of peace and happiness to those that are now out of a job and said to the ones that remain, “We’re in this together. To our residents, please have patience with us.”

Watson expressed disagreement with the reorganization of the county departments but agrees with the reduction in workforce and the motion passed with this one nay. 

Eight job descriptions were approved with this reorganization of the county. 

The Town Hall held virtually the following day on July 1, 2020, echoed these concerns and questions, with the same answers given. 

Montoya answered many questions, one about sports betting revenue and Engels responded that none of that revenue goes to the County. 

Montoya stressed that this is the third time this presentation has been given, as this is the final product of many prior public meetings and votes which are all on record. Patience is requested during these lean times.

The commissioners encouraged those with further questions to contact them via email. 

(Originally published in the July 9, 2020, print edition of The Mountain-Ear.)