Adams County staff present draft FY2026 budget priorities and FTE recommendations; commissioners press for follow‑up on bond, service and fee recoveries

County staff opened a study session on the proposed fiscal year 2026 budget and asked the Board of Commissioners for feedback on recommended ongoing requests, primarily FTE additions and business cases.

Key numbers and overview

Staff said the current draft budget includes a 2.75% across‑the‑board annual employee increase (AEI) and market range adjustments for pay bands but does not automatically move employees within those bands. The staff recommendation, based on the county’s revenue/expense model, was to fund about 19.25 new FTE for the general fund (about 21 FTE all funds when including two positions in other funds). Staff described an existing operating gap in the county’s baseline — on the order of tens of millions of dollars — and warned commissioners that the county expects a material reduction in revenue pressure for 2027 that will require careful multi‑year planning.

Commissioners and staff discussed fiscal sustainability and a 2027 “cliff.” Staff characterized the county’s operating shortfall as a multiyear management problem and said the recommended new FTE and contract increases had been chosen to be sustainable under current projections. Briefly stated figures discussed in the study session included a roughly $40,000,000 operating gap and an expected approximate $20,000,000 drop in revenue in 2027 tied to property tax reductions and abatement changes;…