Larimer County commissioners ratify state contract for unlimited Equifax income checks

Larimer County Commissioner Jody Shadd McNally, chair of the board, presided over a special public meeting July 2 to publicly ratify a Colorado Department of Human Services contract that enables counties to use an unlimited‑access Equifax income‑verification tool for public‑benefits eligibility checks.

The contract, which county Human Services Director Heather O'Hare said is between the state and Equifax with county participation under the statewide agreement, took effect July 1 and runs through the state fiscal year. O'Hare said the statewide arrangement negotiated unlimited use of the tool, which she described as a significant cost savings compared with prior per‑use fees. "Whereas before in prior years contracts, we paid for every time we used the tool, and Larimer County pays about $500,000 into the use of this tool," O'Hare said, calling the unlimited access "really crucial for cost savings."

County Manager Lorenda Volker told the board the signatures were needed by midnight June 30 and that, because the county's regular commission meeting coincided with an election day, staff moved to ensure signatures were obtained and then scheduled this special meeting to make the action public and to record the document with the clerk and recorder's office. "The point of today is to bring this to a public meeting and to have you all ratify the signature that was already provided, and so that everything is documented and the clerk can record the document with both signatures," Volker said.

O'Hare and staff also described a procedural issue that led to the late signature. She said the State initiated the DocuSign workflow with settings that prevented county tracking staff from seeing or routing the document through local review steps. "Kaylene Rowley on my team is responsible for tracking all of these contracts and making sure that they go through the process and we get your signature before the deadline. This one, she is not able to see this contract in DocuSign at all," O'Hare said. The county has added an external spreadsheet for tracking and drafted a procedural document it will send to state departments to ensure the correct DocuSign settings are used in the future.

Commissioner Kefalas described how he had been contacted as part of his role on the State Board of Human Services and worked with county leadership to secure the chair's and clerk‑office signatures so the state could complete its portion of the agreement in time. "I received a phone call from Kyle Zint, who is the State Board of Human Services administrator," Kefalas said, recounting the calls and coordination that led to the signatures being transmitted.

Following that explanation, Commissioner Kefalas moved that the Larimer County Board of Commissioners "approve the state of Colorado Department of Human Services contract and reapprove the board's approval for the agreement from 06/30/2026." Chair McNally called for the ayes; commissioners present voted in favor and the chair declared the motion passed. Commissioner Stevens was excused from the meeting.

The board directed staff to finalize documentation with the clerk and to continue follow‑up discussions with the State Department to correct DocuSign settings and communications so the county's standard routing and review steps are visible before deadlines. The special meeting adjourned shortly after the vote.