The Mesa County Commission approved a resolution to adopt changes to the Mesa County budget on June 30. This supplemental budget is a tool used to update the budget throughout the year as grants are awarded, donations are received and department needs change.

According to a county news release, the changes included:

• The Animal Services department received a $250,000 estate donation that will be used for kennel and yard upgrades.
• The county received $1.4 million in additional opioid-settlement funding over the original allocation. This money goes to Opioid Board approved programs.
• The facilities department spent $15,000 on a tax segregation study to support filing for solar-array tax credits. The cost will be offset by future tax-credit revenue.
• The Sheriff’s Office received a $117,000 grant from the Colorado Forest Service to offset the cost of wildfire mitigation efforts. These and other revenue and expenditures resulted in a $106,267 benefit to the general-fund balance.

Along with amending the budget, commissioners approved a resolution to amend the authorized staffing level for the county, adding and removing positions depending on department needs. In this case, the Natural Resources Department was reorganized, the director position removed, and employees moved to Facilities, Parks and Public Works. These and other changes equaled a 1.25 total reduction in full-time-employee cost.