Sen. Simpson secures unanimous committee approval to reclassify Dolores County

Senator Simpson successfully advanced Senate Bill 92 out of the Local Government and Housing Committee after the sponsor and a Dolores County commissioner described looming fiscal pressure in the county.

"One of my counties, Dolores, has asked to go down in classification, really, about managing their financial challenges," Senator Simpson said, explaining the bill would change Dolores County's statutory classification and that he requires public resolutions and engagement before acting on such requests. Commissioner Eric Stiazni told the committee that the Dolores County Board of County Commissioners unanimously adopted a resolution requesting the change.

"Because of declining oil and gas revenues, of which we've been largely dependent on to the tune of about 58% of our revenue generated," Stiazni said, "we anticipate the loss of production in oil and gas will increase sharply over the next five years," a trend he said would exacerbate projected shortfalls in core services.

Committee members asked for background about the county. Stiazni identified Dove Creek as the county seat and noted the incorporated town of Rico, and he said that most recent mineral extraction activity (uranium, vanadium) has occurred in neighboring counties rather than Dolores.

Senator Simpson offered an amendment to remove Pitkin County from the bill after saying Pitkin's submitted resolution did not meet his standards for inclusion; the committee adopted amendment L001 without objection. Vice Chair Snyder moved the bill, as amended, to the Committee of the Whole with a favorable recommendation; the committee approved the motion by a roll call vote of 7-0. The committee also moved the bill to the consent calendar.

The committee took no further substantive action on funding or programmatic changes; the next step is consideration by the Committee of the Whole.