Brandon Leuallen, The Business Times

Mesa County staff recommend commissioners stand by their reduction to the Sheriff’s Office budget in 2026, arguing the focus is on vacant positions rather than active positions at a time when every department has been asked to model cuts of up to 10 percent.

During a follow-up budget workshop on Nov. 17, county staff walked commissioners back through the sheriff’s appeal and the broader fiscal picture. Mesa County Administrator Todd Hollenbeck said a top priority during this time is keeping “continuity of operations,” which means the goal is not to remove active positions that are vital for maintaining current operations. 

“These targeted reductions in the Sheriff’s Office focus on unfilled positions and discretionary accounts that have historically gone unused,” Hollenbeck told the board, adding later that the list of 18 positions slated for removal are all vacancies.

Commissioner Bobbie Daniel noted all county departments were asked last spring to submit budgets that could absorb about a 10 percent reduction because of slowing sales tax growth, inflation and more than $10 million per year in unfunded state and federal mandates. Ultimately the Sheriff’s Office recommendation came in below that target, at just over 6 percent. 

Fleet, other costs shifted to capital fund 

Mesa County Sheriff Todd Rowell had primarily highlighted in a Nov. 6 meeting for his appeal that the Sheriff’s Department has been receiving a reduced percentage of the general fund compared to other departments since 2017, when the public-safety sales tax was approved by voters. 

During the Nov. 17 meeting, Hollenbeck showed that the county was funding the Sheriff’s Department at $24 million in 2017 and current funding is more than $41 million out of the general fund.

“It’s pretty tough to say that the county has not been supporting the sheriff,” Hollenbeck said. “We’ve been doing a really good job in helping to support them and continue to fund their operations and make sure that the streets are safe.”

County Budget Manager Diane Dziewatkoski also spent time explaining how some of the costs that the county used to cover out of its general fund, including equipment and vehicles, have now shifted to the capital fund, which accounts for part of the reduction in general fund percentage that the Sheriff’s Department has received over the years.

In an email after the meeting, Deputy County Administrator Matt Lewis said Mesa County Fleet now manages about 118 Sheriff’s Office vehicles that are purchased, maintained, depreciated and replaced through the county’s fleet budget. Each of those vehicles carries its own fuel and maintenance allocation on the county side.

In addition to that pool, the Sheriff’s Office operates 29 leased vehicles with a purchased maintenance program that is paid from the sheriff’s budget, while fuel for those units is still budgeted through the fleet.

Sheriff’s appeal comes after recent unionization

Longtime local law enforcement supporter Mark McCallister, who helped pass the 2017 Public Safety Sales Tax, pushed back on claims that Mesa County is “defunding” the Sheriff’s Office in a statement to The Business Times.

“I’ve supported law enforcement from day one. I was there when we passed the Public Safety Sales Tax, because I believe in backing the men and women who serve this community,” McCallister said. “Since then, Mesa County has increased Sheriff’s Office funding every single year from about $22 million in 2018 to nearly $40 million in 2025, the highest in county history.

“Commissioners approved 18 new positions and a 28 percent wage increase over the last two years. Sheriff Rowell never filled those positions. That’s not ‘defunding,’ that’s unfilled vacancies.

“The only thing that’s changed is that under Sheriff Todd Rowell’s leadership, the office unionized and is now asking for more taxpayer money to fund collective bargaining. Rowell has already announced he’s not running for re-election, and after leaving his own deputies exposed to an Attorney General lawsuit for simply doing their jobs, that’s probably for the best.”

Appeal rejected, for now

According to the county staff presentation, the Sheriff’s Department is projected to return up to $3 million in unspent funds to the county at the end of 2025, which factored into the overall budget reduction. 

During the presentation, Mesa County staff disputed the claim that the County was “defunding law enforcement.

“We are fully funding, because we are not defunding anything that is currently being used,” Dziewatkoski said.

“Based on our review, we’re still recommending 6.2 percent for the sheriff’s office,” Hollenbeck said.

Commissioners must still adopt the final 2026 budget next month.