Colfax County commissioners review draft FY26 interim budget, identify $1.3 million reserve draw and vacancy savings

Colfax County commissioners met to review the county's first-draft FY26 interim budget, where county finance staff member Justin presented a general-fund proposal that shows roughly $8.7 million in revenues and just under $10 million in expenditures, producing a $1.27 million deficit before adjustments.

Justin told the commission that backing out nonrecurring capital requests ' chiefly a $250,000 culvert request and a small number of vehicle purchases ' lowers the adjusted deficit to about $900,000. He said the draft maintains prior-year staffing and vacancy assumptions and therefore reflects about $900,000 in budgeted but unfilled positions.

The draft leaves the bulk of recurring payroll unchanged; Justin said payroll represents about 70% of general-fund expenditures and the county's current cash balance is roughly $22 million, so the draft deficit would use a manageable share of reserves if left unchanged.

Commissioners discussed the principal revenue drivers, with Justin noting property tax (roughly $7 million to the general fund in the draft) and gross receipts tax as the largest sources. He said the budget uses prior-year property valuations per Department of Finance and Administration guidance but that actual revenues could be several percent higher depending on final valuations and exemptions.

The document includes a variety of special-revenue and capital funds that largely reconcile revenues and expenditures, Justin said, but he warned several grant and airport-improvement figures remain preliminary and will be reconciled before the final budget. He flagged ARPA ($155,000 remaining in the draft) and the local government opioid-abatement fund as funds with unspent balances and possible allowable uses.

Transfers were highlighted as a key driver of subsidies to other funds: Justin reported combined transfers from certain GRT funds totaling about $2.4 million, with roughly $743,000 of that categorized as temporary transfers; net transfers from the general fund to special revenue funds were presented at about $1.7 million. The road fund was shown receiving roughly $1.05 million in transfers; the corrections fund about $196,000.

Commissioners pressed staff for detail on vacancies. Justin said he maintains a separate vacancy spreadsheet and that, if the county does not fill the listed vacancies, the cash balance would be sufficient to cover operations for FY26; commissioners asked him to circulate the vacancy list. The transcript discussion identified multiple detention officer openings and several open road-operator positions but did not record a formal personnel action.

Commissioners and staff also reviewed several one-time and capital items included in the draft: a $291,000 nonrecurring request in a fire excise tax fund to fund a permanent radio repeater; vehicle requests (examples discussed at $50,000 and $75,000'$100,000 depending on department needs); and a list of grants and capital-project tabs that Justin said will be trued up for the final budget.

Several department-level budget topics drew specific attention: lodging (lodgers) tax build-up that could be adjusted to zero out a small excess; law-enforcement recruitment funds that phase down per grant rules; the solid-waste enterprise subsidy reduced in the draft from about $300,025 to $167,000 because of recent rate increases; and debt-service figures that Justin said he reconciled to amortization schedules provided by DFA and that total about $4.44 million for principal and interest across listed loans.

Commissioners proposed next steps: staff will circulate the vacancy spreadsheet and departmental detail to department heads, make the edits discussed (including vehicle cost adjustments and an increase to health-insurance assumptions), and bring a revised interim budget and public-hearing schedule back for approval before the end of the month. No formal motion or vote was recorded during the presentation.

Why it matters: the interim budget sets the county's temporary spending authority pending a final FY26 budget. The draft shows a modest planned use of reserves driven largely by one-time capital requests and budgeted, but vacant, positions. Commissioners signaled interest in trimming recurring costs by reviewing vacancies and adjusting select line items before approving the interim filing.

The commission did not adopt the interim budget during the meeting. Staff were directed to update grant reconciliations, circulate department-level worksheets, tighten insurance and vehicle estimates, and present the revised interim budget and required public-hearing notice at the next regular meeting so the county can meet the statutory interim-filing deadline.