Moving Money

Colorado's budget includes a lot of different funds. The General Fund is the big one, but we also have dozens of Cash Funds.

Here's a spreadsheet that lists the funds and the amount of money the JBC is proposing be transferred during the current year (FY 2008-09). In all, it comes to just over $182 million.

During the last recession the legislature did the same thing, only more drastically. In FY 2001-02 General Fund revenue plummeted by $1 billion. The legislature got by with just $15 million in direct cuts to spending -- they made up the rest by transferring nearly $1 billion from Cash Funds.

That's not an option this year. Back then a lot of the funds had huge balances that had built up overs years. All of the funds are leaner now, both because they got drained during the last downturn and because we're more careful about avoiding big balances.

Technically Cash Funds exist to pay for a specific service, like medical licenses. Doctors pay a fee to get a license and the money for the fee goes to administrative costs and enforcing medical regulations. It's a fee on a specific group of people to provide a service to that same group.

Big balances in Cash Funds mean people are paying higher fees than they need to. We limit balances in Cash Funds to 30% of their annual costs. That covers costs and allows for a reserve in case something goes wrong.