Between 2021 and 2025, the Summit County Sheriff’s Office grew from 97 to 125 full-time employees—a 29% increase. Salary spending jumped from $9.1 million to $17.2 million, an 89% spike driven partly by a “Step Plan” implemented in 2022 that guaranteed 5-7% annual raises to law enforcement in their first five years. The county’s Citizen Budget Advisory Committee found that Summit ranked second in the state—behind only Denver—for public safety spending as a percentage of gross domestic product.
Then Keystone incorporated.
In February 2024, Keystone residents voted to break away from unincorporated Summit County and form their own municipality, taking $6 million in annual tax revenue with them—$3.2 million in sales tax, $1.2 million in service fees, $1.6 million in lodging fees. Finance Director David Reynolds called it “probably the most impactful thing for the 2026 budget.” State property tax caps limited what the county could recover. Federal ARPA pandemic money dried up. Sales tax revenue dropped 10.9% through July 2025. The boom was over, but the payroll built during the boom remained.
On January 9, 2026, Sheriff Jaime FitzSimons announced he was eliminating 13 positions after the Board of County Commissioners cut his budget from a requested $16.9 million to $14.2 million. After absorbing $1.3 million in mandatory health insurance increases, his office was left with $12.9 million in operating funds. FitzSimons said commissioners forced his hand; commissioners said it was his budget and his decisions to make. Both are technically correct. Under Colorado law, the sheriff recommends a budget, commissioners set the final number, and the sheriff decides where the cuts fall.
FitzSimons chose to preserve frontline detention, patrol, and supervisory positions. What got cut tells its own story: the System-wide Mental Assessment Response Team, a mental health crisis program that won a national healthcare award five months earlier for diverting 87% of its clients from emergency rooms. Pretrial services, discontinued. The traffic safety unit, discontinued. Two victim advocates, a clinical program manager, a school resource officer—gone. The sheriff framed the cuts as forced sacrifices. The commissioners have offered no public statement explaining why a county sitting on more than $40 million in reserves couldn’t find another way.
Commissioner Eric Mamula has said using reserves for public safety wouldn’t be “tactful”—the county needs them for emergencies like forest fires. Commissioner Nina Waters, asked whether the cuts compromise public safety, told Krystal 93: “I can’t say if Summit County is more safe or less safe today, tomorrow or the next day.” Meanwhile, the county found money to hire a third assistant county manager during a hiring freeze that applied to everyone else.
The pattern is familiar across Colorado mountain counties: build during the boom, scramble during the bust. But not every county built the same way. Teller County, population 26,000, faced its own revenue crunch—including the loss of ICE detention revenue after state Democrats banned local 287(g) agreements. Sheriff Jason Mikesell’s office actually spends more per capita than Summit’s: roughly $671 per resident compared to Summit’s $457. The difference is discipline. According to Teller’s 2026 proposed budget, zero new positions were added. Overall county spending increased just 5%. Same fiscal pressures. Different choices during the good years. Different outcomes now.
Summit County’s 89% salary growth didn’t happen in secret. The Step Plan was a joint effort between the Sheriff’s Office, county staff, and commissioners in 2022, designed to address a nationwide law enforcement recruiting crisis. It worked—Summit attracted and retained deputies when other agencies couldn’t. But nobody planned for Keystone walking out the door with $6 million. Nobody planned for ARPA funds to end. Nobody planned for state caps on property tax growth. The commissioners who approved the growth now blame the sheriff for spending too much. The sheriff who benefited from the growth now blames the commissioners for cutting too deep. The 13 employees who lost their jobs last week aren’t blaming anyone—they’re updating their resumes.
Crime in Summit County is down. Jail population is down. The question voters will face in 2026 isn’t whether public safety is adequate—by most measures, it is. The question is whether the county’s elected officials, commissioners and sheriff alike, planned responsibly during the good years or simply spent what they had and hoped the music wouldn’t stop. The music stopped. Thirteen people are out of work. An award-winning mental health program is gone. And $40 million sits in reserves, waiting for a forest fire.
Sources
Summit County Sheriff’s Office press releases (January 2026); Teller County 2026 Proposed Budget (October 9, 2025); Summit County Finance Director presentations to Board of County Commissioners (May-December 2025); CommonSpirit Health award announcement (August 20, 2025); Summit County Citizen Budget Advisory Committee presentation (May 2025); Summit County Board of County Commissioners statements (2025-2026); Krystal 93 interview with Commissioner Nina Waters (January 14, 2026); Summit Daily News budget coverage (2023-2025).
Support Independent Local Journalism — High Country Advocate was created as a real alternative to regional media that too often silences dissenting voices while taking sides in the political struggle. Producing in-depth, unflinching reporting like this series and others is expensive: servers, editing, research time, and legal review all add up quickly. If these articles have informed you or given you new perspective, please consider supporting HCA with a paid subscription — every subscriber helps keep this reporting strong and independent. 