Grant,

The Hinsdale County Commissioners would like to address the continued public confusion and proliferation of misinformation pertaining to the Hinsdale County All Hazards Team (AHT).

The All Hazards Team is an emergency response team that operates within the county’s Office of Emergency Management. The AHT Program was developed to assist local, state, and federal agencies in responding to and recovering from emergencies of all types, including wildfires, floods, tornadoes, hurricanes or any other type of emergency where specially trained resources may be needed to support the incident. The County Commissioners approved county sponsorship of the team in 2021 and the program began in January 2022. As the sponsoring agency, Hinsdale County collects an administrative fee for the work necessary for deployment of team personnel to incidents around the country.

As has been the case for several months now, and as has been reported by the County Commissioners in public meetings, the County has been fully reimbursed by the State of Colorado for all outstanding All Hazards Team invoices that were the subject of controversy at the end of 2024.

The billing issue with the State of Colorado initially arose because the County was claiming a 10% “indirect rate,” or profit rate, on its All Hazards Team invoices, rather than the State required 1% rate. The County believed that the 10% indirect rate was the correct rate, as the State had approved and paid hundreds of invoices that included the 10% indirect rate fee since the program was first implemented in 2022. It was not until the State notified the County of the billing irregularities in late 2024 that anyone had any idea that the billing process was flawed. The State, at that time, identified and determined that the 10% profit/indirect rate only applies when an agency is using the payment amounts for AHT personnel that are provided by the State.

When an agency uses its own personnel payment amounts, it is only entitled to a 1% indirect rate/profit margin. This is where the confusion came in, as the County was using its internal AHT personnel payment amounts but also charging the State a 10% indirect rate, which is not permissible. The County was only entitled to charge a 1% indirect rate.
Legal issues with the State arose because the State had an affirmative duty to timely notify the County of any billing irregularities but instead paid many months of invoices without otherwise notifying the County of any problems with the bills or the claimed profit amounts. The State’s approval of hundreds of invoices that included the 10% indirect rate led the County to believe it was billing correctly. This was until the State caught the problem and notified the County of the problem in late 2024.

The County has since corrected all the previously outstanding and unpaid invoices from 2024 and has since been paid the correct amount for all outstanding invoices. This includes the 10% fiscal agent fees on personnel base pay and the 1% on personnel overtime as well as all per diem and expense payments. There is no actual “loss” to the County or need to “restore” any money to the County’s bank accounts because no money was actually lost by the County during this process. Rather, the County received a 1% profit for the program, rather than a 10% profit, for the invoices that were disputed by the State.

The AHT program is continuing now according to proper billing protocols, and the State and County are on the same page. In addition, and in response to the billing issues with Hinsdale County, as well as similar issues encountered with other agencies, the State has implemented new guidelines for the program, which the County and State have been following in 2025. As such, the 2025 Hinsdale County budgeted amount of $400,000 in indirect rate funds from the AHT program is still accurate.

Hinsdale County is committed to its partnership with the State on this important program, and we appreciate the state continuing to make it possible for Hinsdale County to sponsor our team.
The County has also been questioned as to why the bank account balance at the end of 2024 was approximately $3.1 million less than it was at the beginning of 2024. The answer is simple, as the County has spent its money on typical things, including but not limited to, payroll and benefits for County employees, both of which increased in cost from 2023, normal operating expenses for the County, grant matches, County Road 30 work, repairs and upgrades to the County Transfer Station, Road & Bridge Department equipment repairs and equipment rentals, additional capital outlay, new equipment for the Coroner, and new vehicles for the Sheriff’s Office.

There are simply no missing funds at this time from AHT or otherwise, and the County is moving forward as normal with its budgeting process for 2026.

Thank you.

_{Hinsdale County Commissioners
Kristie Borchers: [email protected]
Robert Hurd: [email protected]
Greg Levine: [email protected]}