Park County workshop flags general-fund gap as juvenile detention, mental-health costs climb and tax receipts lag

Park County commissioners were told at a budget workshop that the county faces a projected general‑fund gap driven by weaker revenues and larger-than-expected juvenile detention and mental‑health costs.

Erica, staff member (budget presenter), said the county’s FY‑26 preliminary figures show a difference of about $318,000 under a no‑COLA scenario and about $410,000 when a cost‑of‑living adjustment is included, after removing public works from the general fund as recommended for FY‑26. "Our revenues, projections for this year are actually coming in lower than we expected for, like local option tax, justice court fines, and a couple of other things," Erica said during the presentation.

The immediate drivers staff identified were revenue shortfalls and unusually high justice and mental‑health expenditures. Erica said juvenile detention costs are running “over 90,000” this year compared with a budgeted figure of about $30,000 (a five‑year average), and that combined juvenile‑detention and mental‑health overages are “about 215,000.” She attributed the mental‑health spending largely to transports to Warm Springs and to bills that include charges going back into prior years.

On the revenue side, Erica said the local‑option tax line has come in well below the adopted figure: "We budgeted 11,250,000. I think this year, my projection is it's gonna be closer to a million dollars. So it's a pretty significant difference, but, I mean, we're really at 850,000 right now. I just don't know that we're gonna get 400,000 in the next 2 months. So I actually bumped that revenue down to 1,100,000." (Numbers quoted above are as stated in the meeting record.)

Staff also noted changes in how public works costs will be accounted for beginning in FY‑26: a portion of a public works director position and related payroll will be charged directly to road, bridge and refuse funds instead of routed through the general fund. Erica said staff removed those public‑works amounts from the FY‑25 adopted figures and FY‑24 year‑to‑date amounts to present a comparable basis for FY‑26.

Erica flagged a separate revenue issue: the state share of the county attorney salary. She said the county historically received closer to $80,000 toward that position but this year has so far gotten $60,000 and that she had not yet received the state’s official letter setting the payment for the biennium.

Commissioners and staff discussed vacancy savings and one‑time adjustments as partial offsets but emphasized that payroll is the largest fixed cost in the budget. Erica said she will add the department‑level year‑to‑date projections to the packet and resend the full spreadsheet and projections to department heads and commissioners so everyone has the updated numbers. "I will resend that to everyone and make sure Travis gets included," she said. No formal budget vote or amendment was taken at the workshop.

Why it matters: the general fund pays core county operations; shortfalls or sustained revenue declines could force cuts, delayed purchases or the reallocation of costs across funds. The county staff identified juvenile detention and mental‑health billing as an unusually large expense this year and signaled uncertainty about several revenue lines that are subject to state legislative and market conditions.

Next steps: staff will circulate the updated projection spreadsheet, continue reviewing revenue assumptions (including impacts of state tax legislation), and bring departmental and fund‑specific proposals back to the commission for adjustment or formal action if needed.