About $10,000 in emergency public health funds previously in limbo are set to be restored for Montezuma County.
Bobbi Lock, director of Montezuma County’s public health office, said during a Board of Health meeting Oct. 7 that funds for the county’s Emergency Preparedness and Response office, cut by 25%, are set to be restored for next year’s budget in November.
In July, Lock told the Montezuma County commissioners that the office would receive just over $40,000, or 75% of its previous allotment, distributed by the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment.
The CDPHE funding originates from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The federal health office has undergone a range of cuts under the administration of President Donald Trump, such as reductions in data-gathering programs and recent mass layoffs during the U.S. government shutdown.
But with good news en route, the full number still waits to be seen, Lock said during the Oct. 7 board of health meeting.
“Now, if their math matches our math, great, then we'll really see the 25%,” Lock said. “We haven't seen it yet. But it's supposedly been put back in place and we should get that in mid-November.”
EPR funds are used to safeguard against a range of public health threats. They support efforts related to air and water quality risks, disease outbreaks, and emergency coordination among schools.
“Even at reduced funding levels, EPR remains critical to public health and safety – especially in rural communities where local capacity is limited,” county EPR manager Trent Woods told The Journal in an email in August.
Woods said at the time that without the 25%, the office would have to prioritize essential programs and “pause or scale back lower-priority initiatives, like certain training events, coalition meetings, or community outreach campaigns.”
More broadly, Montezuma County continues to face significant federal funding losses.
According to a database maintained by the Colorado’s Office of Federal Funds and Strategic Initiatives, Montezuma County has lost an estimated $12.7 million in federal dollars as of Sept. 26.
Some of that funding has been reinstated, and certain cuts have been halted by court rulings, according to the database.
An online description of the database attributes the cuts to the current federal administration.
The Colorado General Assembly held a special legislative session in late August to address an approximately $750 million shortfall in the state’s budget. That gap has been attributed to a Republican-favored congressional tax and spending changes in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act. After the session, Gov. Jared Polis’s office made emergency cuts to state programs totaling about $250 million.
A proposed budget is due Wednesday for Montezuma County, Cortez, Mancos and Dolores per Colorado law. Each budget allots time for public comment before being finalized.
