HB 25-1319
Fiscal Note
Legislative Council Staff
Nonpartisan Services for Colorado’s Legislature
HB 25-1319: COUNTY COMMISSIONER VACANCIE S
Prime Sponsors:
Rep. Pugliese; Duran
Sen. Kirkmeyer
Published for: House State Affairs
Drafting number: LLS 25-0763
Fiscal Analyst:
Hamza Syed, 303-866-4976
hamza.syed@coleg.gov
Version: Initial Fiscal Note
Date: April 4, 2025
Fiscal note status: The fiscal note reflects the introduced bill.
Summary Information
Overview. The bill creates a new November vacancy election for certain county commissioner vacancies.
Types of impacts. The bill is projected to affect the following areas on an ongoing basis:
State Expenditures
State Revenue
Local Government
Appropriations. For FY 2025-26, the bill requires an appropriation of $314,920 to the Department of
State.
Table 1
State Fiscal Impacts
Type of Impact
Budget Year
FY 2025-26
Out Year
FY 2026-27
State Revenue $0 $0
State Expenditures $314,920 $0
Transferred Funds $0 $0
Change in TABOR Refunds $0 $0
Change in State FTE 0.0 FTE 0.0 FTE
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April 4, 2025 HB 25-1319
Summary of Legislation
The bill creates a new type of vacancy election for county commissioner vacancies that occur in
a county with a population of at least 50,000 and the commissioner is affiliated with a major
political party. If a vacancy occurs after July 31 of an even-numbered year, and before July 31 of
an odd-numbered year, a vacancy committee selects a candidate to serve until the next
odd-year November election. A vacancy election is then held as a part of the district’s odd-year
November coordinated election. Only unaffiliated voters and voters affiliated with the vacating
commissioner’s political party may vote in the vacancy election, unless the political party votes
to open the election to all voters. Candidates for the vacancy election are required to submit a
nominating statement and signed petition to their county clerk. The winner of the vacancy
election serves until the next November General Election. Candidates in vacancy election are
subject to campaign finance limitations and required election disclosures.
State Revenue
Colorado law requires legislative service agency review of measures which create or increase any
fee collected by a state agency. Under current law, the Department of State (DOS) is authorized
to adjust fees so that the revenue generated approximates its direct and indirect costs. The DOS
is primarily funded through business filing fees. To cover the costs described in the State
Expenditures section below, fees may need to be raised to cover all or some of the costs of this
bill.
This fiscal note assumes that fees will be adjusted such that the DOS can recoup its FY 2025-26
costs in FY 2026-27. The fees affected, the timing of any increase, and the actual amount of fee
charges will be set administratively by the DOS based on cash fund balance and total program
costs.
State Expenditures
The bill increases state expenditures in the Department of State by about $315,000 in
FY 2025-26. These costs, paid from the Department of State Cash Fund, are shown in Table 2
and described in the sections below.
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April 4, 2025 HB 25-1319
Table 2
State Expenditures
Department of State
Cost Component
Budget Year
FY 2025-26
Out Year
FY 2026-27
Computer Programming $297,920 $0
Audit Programming $8,500 $0
Total Costs $314,920 $0
Total FTE 0.0 FTE 0.0 FTE
Computer Programming
The bill will require that the Department of State (DOS) modify both the statewide voter
registration system and its ballot access application to create a new county commissioner
vacancy election and to allow those elections to occur as part of a coordinated election.
Specifically, the systems must be able to flag and generate ballots properly to ensure that only
eligible voters receive a vacancy election ballot during coordinated elections (which currently go
to all voters, without regard to party affiliation). Additional costs may also be incurred to make
changes to the party affiliation change process. Modified software development, testing, and
deployment are expected to require 2,240 hours of computer programming at a rate of
$133 per hour.
Audit Programming
A new vacancy candidate field will need to be created in the candidate contribution tracking
system, and contributions limits will need to be flagged. The contribution and tracking system is
also being updated, so these changes will also need to be reflected in the new system. The total
one-time cost for the system changes is estimated at $17,000.
County Reimbursement
The bill increases expenditures in the DOS by an indeterminate amount to reimburse counties
for additional election costs (described in the Local Government section below). The Department
of State reimburses counties for 45 percent of their eligible election expenses.
TABOR Refunds
The bill is expected to increase the amount of state revenue required to be refunded to
taxpayers by the amounts discussed in the State Revenue section above. This estimate assumes
the March 2025 LCS revenue forecast. A forecast of state revenue subject to TABOR is not
available beyond FY 2026-27. Because TABOR refunds are paid from the General Fund, increased
cash fund revenue will reduce the amount of General Fund available to spend or save. Page 4
April 4, 2025 HB 25-1319
Local Government
Counties will have additional costs to print, send, process, and count unique ballots for eligible
voters in vacancy elections, when these vacancies occur. These expenses will vary by county size
and frequency of vacancy elections, and have not been estimated. A portion of the costs to
administer an election are reimbursable by the state.
For November elections where a county would not have otherwise held a coordinated election,
the requirement to hold a vacancy election will increase costs to issue election notices, print and
mail ballots, provide in-person voter centers, process and count ballots, and certify the election
to the DOS. It is assumed that this scenario would not occur frequently, given that it is
uncommon for there to be no local or statewide issues affecting a county in odd-numbered
election years that would not otherwise require a coordinated election.
Effective Date
The bill takes effect upon signature of the Governor, or upon becoming law without his
signature.
State Appropriations
For FY 2025-26, the bill requires an appropriation of $314,920 from the Department of State Cash
Fund to the Department of State.
State and Local Government Contacts
Counties
County Clerks
Secretary of State
The revenue and expenditure impacts in this fiscal note represent changes from current law under the bill for each
fiscal year. For additional information about fiscal notes, please visit the General Assembly website.