County commissioner discusses revenue, housing needs

BY TAYLER SHAW TSHAW@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM

From budgetary concerns to housing needs, Arapahoe County

Commissioner Jessica CampbellSwanson covered a breadth of topics during her May 17 town hall at Koelbel Library in Centennial.

Arapahoe County is split into ve districts, each represented by a county commissioner.

Campbell-Swanson was elected in November to represent District 2, which includes parts of Centennial, Greenwood Village, Aurora and unincorporated Arapahoe County.

“ is is my rst town hall, so thanks for being here,” she told attendees. “It’s been an incredibly crazy, wild, busy four months. And it’s been really amazing to learn as much as I can, as quickly as possible.”

In a lot of ways, the commissioners act as CEOs and policy makers of the county, she said.

“We’re your city council for unincorporated areas but … we direct everything that happens in terms of strategic and the policy, vision and the goals,” Campbell-

Swanson said.

“What makes a really great commissioner is being well-read, studied up on what’s happening and being present,” she added. “I sit and focus and try to really be present with the information that I’m receiving so I’m asking important questions — because, largely, we are decision makers.”

Among the many topics Campbell-Swanson covered during the two-hour event were two pressing needs in the county: revenue and access to housing.

The need for revenue

One of the top priorities for the county commissioners is addressing the budget, speci cally the need for revenue.

Campbell-Swanson said the county is looking at a roughly $3 million de cit for 2024.

“When I rst started even thinking about running for o ce, I started hearing about how tight the Arapahoe County budget was.

And … how we’ve been making magic happen for a very long time and squeezing, you know, $1.50 out of every dollar,” she said. e rst-year commissioner said the county has an almost $500 million budget, half of which is from federal and state grants and the other half is from property taxes.

“People don’t realize that the bulk of those property taxes that are being collected are actually going to special districts and school districts,” she said. “We actually only get about $430 per home.”

A strain on the budget is the impact of the Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights, or TABOR, she said.

TABOR generally limits the amount of revenue governments in Colorado can retain and spend, and it requires excess revenue to be refunded to taxpayers, according to the Colorado Department of Revenue.

To avoid this revenue cap, 51 out of the 64 counties in Colorado have “debruced,” meaning they have eliminated the government spending limit and allow the government to retain and spend all of the revenue it collects under