By the end of 2029 Clear Creek County will essentially be insolvent. That’s not my best guess, that what is shown in the county’s 2026 adopted budget (page 23). In a time where trust in government is at a low point, I’m not asking Clear Creek voters to blindly trust me, I am asking that they look through the numbers with me and see for themselves.
The facts and figures, found directly in Clear Creek’s own books, tell a frankly startling story. Salaries and benefits are up 28.4% since 2022, $17.1 million to $22.03 million, while full time county employees has stayed essentially flat. This trend comes out to a 55% increase in pay per staffer since 2019. What’s more alarming is that the General Fund, the account that most county services draws from, is down $3.7 million in 2 years. That equates to an 18.75% drop in total funds.
In a community like Clear Creek where the local population is aging and more than a few are on fixed incomes, it’s worrisome.
Here’s one consideration that has been identified, and it is a legitimate one: the county turnover numbers. Clear Creek reasonably wants to keep their staff turnover at less than 10%. Hiring and training people is a huge expense, and when about 49% of the county budget is taken up by personnel costs, it matters. In 2021 the turnover was 32%, 37% in 22, and a staggering 38% in 2025.
This after Clear Creek gave multiple raises, and dropped to a 4-day (32 hour) work week, while keeping each employee at a 40 hour pay rate (representing a 25% increase in hourly pay value on its own).
This isn’t only a Clear Creek problem. Small counties across Colorado are quietly running structural deficits that impact their residents, but they don’t get the headlines that the statewide budget fights do. Affected counties don’t tend to make a lot of noise, they just cut back. The roads stop being maintained as meticulously, the response time for emergency services expands, treasured community services (such as Charlie’s Place animal shelter in Clear Creek) need to consider other options for funding.
Clear Creek isn’t an outlier, it is more the norm for small communities, but no one is really aware unless they read the budget books.
The answer as I see it is common sense. How can we trust our community leaders with more money when it seems like they are not properly managing what they already have. Communities such as Clear Creek need an independent audit to discover what is and isn’t working before asking taxpayers for any new revenue. Once that is accomplished, roles that aren’t needed can be closed out through attrition, as but one example.
Through this this process we keep our front-line men and women in place; our first responders and public works and facilities people that keep our community safe, operational, and well maintained can focus on their important jobs.
Ultimately, fiscal responsibility and ensuring our local government is right-sized is all of our jobs to be mindful of, not just that of a few elected officials.
Christopher Hardman is a small business owner in Clear Creek, a 10-year veteran firefighter/ EMT, an active member in his community, church and children’s school. Chris is running for Clear Creek County commissioner this Nov 3.
