Editor’s Note: This article originally appeared on July 21, 2026, and was updated on July 23, 2026.
The El Paso County Board of County Commissioners on July 21 agreed to pay $1.24 million to the Colorado Department of Labor & Employment to settle a 1½-year dispute over a $1.9 million grant the Pikes Peak Workforce Center made to a now-defunct Colorado Springs nonprofit.
Settlement Amount
$1.24M
Original Grant to Opus
$1.9M
Disallowed/Questioned Costs
$828,372
The county will make the payment from its Risk and Self-Insurance Fund, which it uses for general liability coverage, on behalf of the workforce center. County officials agreed to make the payments after the department began offsetting the disputed amounts with funds from state grants to the county’s Department of Human Services and the El Paso County Sheriff’s Department.
Under a resolution authorizing the payment, the county will backfill the budgets of affected departments and offices, with the Risk and Self-Insurance Fund to be reimbursed from any claim payments by the center’s insurer, recoveries or other funds related to the disputed state funds. The resolution also says the county “strenuously objects” to the state department’s use of the grant offsets.
The resolution also directs county staff to “investigate and pursue any available legal remedy” against the insurance policies, agents or principals of Opus Collective (also known as the Colorado Springs Community Cultural Collective) — the nonprofit that received the $1.9 million grant — and that staff members cooperate with any state or federal investigations of misuse of the grant funds.
“Our first responsibility is to protect the services that residents rely on every day,” Commission Chair Carrie Geitner said. “The State’s actions placed unrelated county programs at risk, leaving us with a difficult decision. This resolution allows us to protect essential services while preserving the County’s regal rights and continuing to pursue appropriate remedies.”
County Commissioner Holly Williams said before voting that she was “disappointed that the state is holding me hostage” with the grant offsets to force a settlement. Commission Vice Chair Lauren Nelson called the offset of funds from grants to unrelated county departments “not legal” and said “the state took money before we could legally fight” the offsets.
Background
In early 2022, the Colorado Department of Labor & Employment made $2.52 million in ARPA grants to the Pikes Peak Workforce Center to help recover from COVID-19 impacts. The center awarded $1.9 million of those funds in 2023 to Opus Collective to pay and provide training to unemployed and underemployed childcare and restaurant workers.
A 2024 state audit found the center’s director had joined the Opus board in 2023, raising conflict-of-interest concerns. The department eventually identified $828,371.78 in questioned and disallowed costs, primarily for lack of documentation of time and effort by Opus managers and a consultant. The state terminated the grant agreement in April 2025 after issuing a notice of breach, prompting the center’s insurer to file suit in Denver District Court — a case still pending.
The settlement comes about a month after the departure of the center’s longtime director, Traci Marques, replaced on an interim basis by Crystal LaTier, who heads the county’s Economic Development Department and Housing Authority. The Pikes Peak Workforce Center connects employers and job seekers in El Paso and Teller counties, holds job fairs and provides other free services to job seekers.
Debbie Miller, chair of the Pikes Peak Workforce Development Board from 2023-24, told commissioners the resolution and payment were “premature” since the center’s lawsuit is still pending and the payment could weaken the county’s legal position. She said the findings in the resolution “will become part of El Paso County’s official record while litigation is still pending.”
“The countless hours, the jobs created, the businesses and families impacted, the work of board members, mentors and students — was it all truly ‘disallowed’? Disallowed — funds that were vetted several times over, reimbursed and used exactly as the ARPA grant required, with no finding, and no accusation, of waste, fraud, or abuse by anyone.”
Linda Weise, CEO, Opus Collective
Marques said in a written statement emailed Wednesday that the center paid El Paso County for finance and other administrative support during the period the grant was made and paid out, and thus county finance officials approved all payments to Opus. She also said in a 2024 affidavit that the grant was approved by the Consortium Executive Board, which includes commissioners from El Paso and Teller counties and oversees the center.
The affidavit also said Marques received approval from the chair of the Pikes Peak Workforce Development Board and El Paso County’s deputy county manager before agreeing to serve on the Opus board, which she resigned from four months later to “prevent any immediate or future perception of conflict of interest.” Marques also said in the affidavit she did not vote on matters involving the grant while serving on the Opus board.
In a letter, Ben Hase, partner in O’Hagan Meyer, hired by Philadelphia Insurance, the center’s errors and omissions insurer, said the center provided weekly worksheets and basic “time and effort” documentation in an attempt to respond to the “Notice to Cure and Breach of Agreement.” The letter also said the center “demanded production of further ‘time and effort’ documentation from Opus, but none was received.”
Geitner said Tuesday in an emailed statement after the meeting that she “became concerned about whether the oversight structure for the center at the time provided sufficient accountability for managing public grant funds. I’m grateful the Consortium Board granted County Administration the authority this year to strengthen oversight and improve accountability.”
The state department said in a statement following the commissioner meeting that it “is grateful that the El Paso Board of County Commissioners unanimously voted to resolve the disallowed costs owed to CDLE by the Pikes Peak Workforce Center.” It said it made “the difficult decision” to begin offsetting funds on July 7 “in an effort to uphold its commitment to responsible stewardship,” a process it paused a week later following discussions with county officials.
The department said moving forward with a settlement “will ensure critical workforce services continue to serve job seekers and employers in the Pikes Peak region, allowing every Coloradan access to opportunities that help them thrive and prosper.”