Commissioners propose amendment to county's home rule charter
Published on August 12, 2022
On Wednesday, Weld County Commissioners passed a resolution to put a question on the November ballot to amend a portion of the Weld County Home Rule Charter with regard to collective bargaining.
In May 2022, Colorado Governor Jared Polis signed S.B. 22-230, which grants employees of Colorado counties, including home rule counties, the right to engage in collective bargaining with their board of commissioners, despite Weld County’s (and 37 other Colorado counties) opposition to the bill.
Citing significant costs to Weld County taxpayers, the county’s Director of Finance Don Warden provided a detailed report on the impact collective bargaining could have to Weld County’s budget, including an estimated $42,943,426 - $60,120,796 in additional annual costs to the county.
“In 1975, voters in Weld County voted and passed the home rule charter, which outlined how voters wanted their government run. Since that time, the voters have elected commissioners to handle the business of the county, including how to manage their tax dollars,” said Commissioner Chair Scott James. “This bill undermines the direction of the voters, takes local control of how their tax dollars are managed and just gives it away to this state bill.”
Weld County voters will be asked to approve an amendment to the home rule charter that amends language in Section 4-2(B)(2)(i) to read:
Section 4-2. Department of Finance and Administration.
(B) The Division of Human Resources shall:
(2) Such system shall include at least the following:
(i) The Personnel Policies, rules, regulations, job classification and compensation plans shall govern the employment relationship between the County and County employees. It is against public policy for the County to collectively bargain with County employees. The Board of County Commissioners shall not enter into any collective bargaining agreement with County employees. The County is under no obligation to recognize or negotiate with, for the purpose of collective bargaining, any collective bargaining unit of County employees, their exclusive representative(s), or any employee organization(s) chosen to represent them.
Read the resolution and referred ballot question, and learn more about the fiscal impact of unionization to Weld County.(PDF, 2MB)