Colorado Dept. of Social Services v. Board of County Com'rs of Pueblo County

• Court: Colorado Supreme Court
• Writing for the Court: KIRSHBAUM
• Citation: Colorado Dept. of Social Services v. Board of County Com'rs of Pueblo County, 697 P.2d 1 (Colo. 1985)
• Decision Date: 11 March 1985
• Docket Number: No. 83SA316,83SA316
• Parties: The COLORADO DEPARTMENT OF SOCIAL SERVICES, Plaintiff-Appellee and Cross-Appellant, v. The BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS Of the COUNTY OF PUEBLO, Defendant-Appellant and Cross-Appellee, and Samuel J. Corsentino, Intervenor-Appellant and Cross-Appellee.

Page 1

697 P.2d 1

The COLORADO DEPARTMENT OF SOCIAL SERVICES Plaintiff-Appellee and Cross-Appellant, v. The BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS Of the COUNTY OF PUEBLO Defendant-Appellant and Cross-Appellee and Samuel J. Corsentino, Intervenor-Appellant and Cross-Appellee.

No. 83SA316.

Supreme Court of Colorado En Banc.

March 11, 1985.

As Modified on Denial of Rehearing

April 1, 1985.

L. Duane Woodard, Atty. Gen., Charles B. Howe, Deputy Atty. Gen., Richard Forman, Sol. Gen., Wade Livingston, Asst. Atty. Gen., Denver, for plaintiff-appellee and cross-appellant.

Terry A. Hart, James V. Phelps, Pueblo County Atty's. Office, Pueblo, for defendant-appellant and cross-appellee.

Ware & Marroney, Gerald A. Marroney, Pueblo, for intervenor-appellant and cross-appellee.

The Board of County Commissioners of the County of Otero and State of Colorado, Mitchell & Mitchell, P.C., Rexford L. Mitchell, Rocky Ford, and The Board of County Commissioners of El Paso County, Colo., Charles Berry, Colorado Springs, amicus curiae.

KIRSHBAUM, Justice.

This case presents questions concerning the respective responsibilities of the Colorado Department of Social Services (the Department), the General Assembly, and county governments to fund public assistance programs established by the Colorado Social Services Code, sections 26-1-101 to 26-15-113, 11 C.R.S. (1982 & 1984 Supp.) (the Code). ¹ The case arose when the Department sought a judicial decree requiring the Board of County Commissioners of Pueblo County (the Board) to pay the Board's share of the county's total public assistance costs for 1981, pursuant to section 26-1-122 of the Code. ² The Board asserted that its responsibility for funding public assistance programs was limited to the sums generated by a tax levy of 2.5 mills under section 26-1-125 of the Code and that the Department improperly calculated the amount of its mandatory funding requirements. The Board also filed a counterclaim seeking compensation from the Department. Samuel J. Corsentino, a resident and taxpayer of Pueblo County, intervened to challenge the constitutionality of the funding provisions of the Code.

After a trial to the court, the trial court concluded, inter alia, that (1) the funding scheme established by the Code is constitutional; (2) the Board's obligation to fund county public assistance costs is not limited by section 26-1-125 of the Code; (3) the Board is not entitled to reimbursement by the Department for sums the Board expended for foster care in 1981; (4) the Department properly determined the Department's share of welfare costs in 1981; and (5) the General Assembly is required to fund fully the county contingency fund established by section 26-1-126 of the Code.

The three parties have appealed one or more of these rulings, and the Board also appeals an evidentiary ruling of the trial court. ³ Several amici curiae have filed briefs in support of certain of the Board's contentions. We affirm the judgment of the trial court.

I

To aid the resolution of these issues, it will be helpful to briefly review the history of welfare programs in Colorado and to explain the functioning of the public assistance funding provisions established by the Code. The facts underlying the various claims will emerge in the course of these discussions.

A. Overview of Public Assistance

Prior to statehood, the territory's county governments were charged by various legislative provisions with the responsibility of providing relief to poor persons who either had no relatives in the territory or whose relatives could not or would not support them. See Ch. 68, C.R.S. (1868) (chapter entitled "Paupers"). These provisions continued in force upon the admission of Colorado into the Union. See Colo. Const. sched. § 1 (1876); ch. 76, Colo.Gen.Laws (1877). Indeed, substantially similar provisions remained in effect until 1981. See §§ 30-17-101 to -117, 12 C.R.S. (1977), repealed and reenacted by Ch. 367, §§ 30-17-101 to -206, 1981 Colo.Sess.Laws 1451. The reenacted provisions deleted all language requiring county responsibility for public assistance programs, except for the obligation to provide burial services for indigent persons. See §§ 30-17-102, -104, 12 C.R.S. (1984 Supp.).

The state first assumed some responsibility for public assistance programs in response to the economic environment engendered by the Great Depression. In 1933, the General Assembly created a state relief committee and declared that providing "the necessaries of life" was a "State, County, City and Town purpose." Ch. 51, sec. 1, 1933 Colo.Sess.Laws 385 (codified at ch. 141, § 2, 4A Colo.Stat.Ann. (1949)). At an extraordinary session, the General Assembly reaffirmed that relief served both a state and county purpose and expressly provided that adoption of the new legislation did not relieve counties of their former duties under the "Paupers" statute. See Ch. 15, § 1, 1933-34, Colo.Sess.Laws 71 (2d Ex.Sess.) (codified at ch. 141, § 1, 4A Colo.Stat.Ann. (1949)).

In response to the passage by the federal congress of the Social Security Act in 1935, Pub.L. No. 74-271, 49 Stat. 620 (codified, as amended, at 42 U.S.C. § 301, et seq. (1982)), the General Assembly enacted the Welfare Organization Act of 1936. See ch. 5, 1936 Colo.Sess.Laws 27 (2d Ex.Sess.) (codified, as amended, at ch. 141, §§ 13 to 29, 4A Colo.Stat.Ann. (1949)). This act created state and county welfare departments and established a pattern of joint state and county funding responsibility together with general state control over public assistance programs, including federally assisted programs. See id. See generally Colorado Legislative Council, Report to the Colorado General Assembly: Public Assistance Administration, Research Pub. No. 135 (Nov. 1968).

The present version of the Code retains much of the structure first announced by its depression era predecessors. It establishes the duties of the state and county departments of social services; ⁴ grants authority to the executive director of the Department to issue rules governing the internal administration of both state and county departments; and authorizes the State Board of Social Services, a component body of the Department, to issue rules governing the scope and content of programs, the rights and responsibilities of persons affected by such programs, and the fiscal and personnel administration of the county departments. § 26-1-108(1), (2), 11 C.R.S. (1982). Furthermore, the State Board of Social Services, by rule, has authority to establish minimum personnel standards and qualifications, which rules govern the employment of support staff. Id. §§ 26-1-108(2), -119, -122; Dempsey v. City & County of Denver, 649 P.2d 726 (Colo.App.1982). The Department's rules and regulations are binding on the several county departments. § 26-1-108(2), 11 C.R.S. (1982). Colorado State Board of Social Services v. Billings, 175 Colo. 380, 487 P.2d 1110 (1971).

Some decisions, however, remain within the authority of county departments, such as the choice of county director, whether certain specialized training shall be given to county department employees, and whether certain optional specialized programs should be adopted. §§ 26-1-117(1), -118(8), -122(4)(e), 11 C.R.S. (1982). It is clear, however, that the county social services departments are agents of the State Department. Id. § 26-1-118(1); Board of County Commissioners v. State Board of Social Services, 186 Colo. 435, 528 P.2d 244 (1974).

The federal government, the state and the counties contribute funds to public assistance programs in Colorado. Section 26-1-109(2)(a) authorizes the Department, with the written approval of the governor and the attorney general, to accept federal funds for public assistance programs under the terms and conditions of applicable federal statutes. To obtain federal aid for such programs as aid to the blind, families with dependent children (AFDC), the needy disabled and the elderly, the state program must operate in and be mandatory for all political subdivisions of the state. See 42 U.S.C. §§ 302(a)(1), 602(a)(1), 1202(a)(1) and 1352(a)(1) (1982). The federal share of financing for various public assistance programs ranges generally from fifty percent to ninety percent, depending on the nature of the expenditure and the type of the program. See, e.g., 42 U.S.C. § 303(a)(1), (4)(B) (fifty percent of certain old age assistance expenditures); 42 U.S.C. § 603(a)(3)(B) (ninety percent of AFDC program costs). Other special federal assistance programs may be one hundred percent federally funded. See, e.g., 42 U.S.C. § 8623(a)(1)(B) (1982) (Low-Income Home Energy Assistance (LEAP)).

The federal monies received by the state are held separately from state funds. The Code designates the state treasurer as ex officio custodian of these funds and authorizes the treasurer to disburse such funds for their designated purposes. See § 26-1-109(2)(b), (c), 11 C.R.S. (1982). These federal monies are included within the calculation of the state's share of public assistance costs, which is eighty percent of overall program and administrative costs. Id. § 26-1-122(3)(b), (4)(b). ⁵ The counties are also responsible for certain expenses of public assistance, not to exceed twenty percent. Id. § 26-1-122(1). ⁶

The budget and appropriation processes for state and county public assistance program budgets are well established. The state fiscal year commences July 1 annually. § 24-30-204, 10 C.R.S. (1982). The Department begins work on its budget in the July preceding the next state fiscal year. The Department considers a variety of data in assessing state welfare needs, including actual expenses incurred in previous and current years and various indicators of general economic and social conditions. The budget contains separate funding requests for each program and fund. It must be submitted to the State Office of Planning and Budget by October 1, and, as modified there, is...