Las Animas County, Huerfano join basic-income research project

Las Animas County and Huerfano County were included in a rural basic-income research project that will pick households from eight Colorado counties and give selected participants one-time direct financial assistance. The Colorado Community Action Association said the program will use a random lottery to choose households in Eagle, Huerfano, Las Animas, Moffat, Montrose, Ouray, Routt and San Miguel counties.

The project is aimed at households at or below 200% of the federal poverty level in 2026. If selected, families must verify income and residency, then complete surveys, assessments and questionnaires every six months for two years. The association says the work is intended to measure how targeted financial help affects rural families where wages often trail the cost of everyday life.

For Las Animas County, the appeal is tied to conditions that shape daily decisions in Trinidad and smaller communities across the county: long drives to services, fewer employers and a thinner social-services network than residents in urban parts of Colorado. That makes the difference between a one-time payment and no extra help more immediate for households already balancing housing, fuel, food and other costs.

The money comes with tax paperwork attached. The Colorado Community Action Association says the payment counts as taxable income for 2026, will be reported to the Internal Revenue Service, requires a W-9 and will be documented on a 1099 at the end of 2026. Income eligibility may be self-certified at first, but selected applicants will have to prove income with a 2025 federal tax return or, if current earnings are lower, five months of pay stubs and bank statements.

The income cutoff lines up with a separate state standard now being used in community services work. Colorado’s Division of Local Government says 200% of the federal poverty level is currently being used as an exception for CSBG eligibility through Sept. 30, 2026. The Colorado Community Action Association describes its Community Services Block Grant Balance of State work as a multi-year effort for historically hard-to-serve counties, including Las Animas and Huerfano, with a mission of advancing economic security through partner capacity-building, training, technical assistance and strategic partnerships.

For county residents, the key questions are practical: how many households get picked, whether selected families can clear the paperwork, and whether the results show enough measurable benefit to shape future anti-poverty policy and funding in rural Colorado.