KSJD Local Newscast - April 1, 2025

A recurring theme popped up at Tuesday’s meeting of the Montezuma County commissioners – money. During public comments, two local residents voiced concerns about potential impacts locally of budget-slashing by the Trump administration. Lori Mott said tourism may decline if public lands see reductions in services or closures of facilities. She also said cuts to Medicaid and Medicare could lead to the closing of the local hospital and nursing homes. She asked the board to help represent these concerns to Congressman Jeff Hurd. Laurie Hall of Mancos said the local chapter of the League of Women Voters is tracking the impacts of funding freezes and firings on the local ag community. Hall said federal funding has been cut for a program that paid county farmers $242,000 last year for crops distributed to food-assistance organizations. She said proposed federal budget cuts pose a major threat to the residents of southwestern Colorado. Commission chairman Jim Candelaria praised the county health department for being prepared for the cutoff of COVID-related funding nationwide, saying, “Hats off to them for seeing what was coming down.” But he noted that the recent unanimous vote by employees of the Montezuma County Sheriff’s Office in favor of collective bargaining could have a “significant impact” on next year’s finances. He said, “We are looking at every department for cost-benefit analysis as related to funding in our budget.”