Board preliminarily approves FY2026 supervisors budget; communications proposes email‑signature software, board proposes larger CIP funding

The Linn County Board of Supervisors on Jan. 13 preliminarily approved the Board of Supervisors operating budget for fiscal 2026 totaling $1,269,582, with 8.23 FTEs, and heard two budget offers: increased capital improvement plan (CIP) funding and a communications request for centralized email‑signature management software.

Budget Director Sarah Barrows said operating expenses remained essentially unchanged from the prior year, and that salary and benefit increases reflected health‑insurance elections and contractual changes. "Salaries and benefits went up 8%... there are 8.23 FTEs," Barrows said. (Sarah Barrows, Budget Director)

Darren Gage described an offer to increase annual CIP funding from $1.2 million to $1.5 million to better cover technology, server and building‑system replacements not currently captured in routine maintenance. He said technology and equipment needs at public safety agencies (notably the sheriff's office) are a major driver of the CIP workload and that preventive replacements are approaching their first‑generation lifecycle. "When you look at the amount of money that's in there... about 3 of those 5 years is money that is represented by activities in the sheriff's office," Gage said. (Darren Gage)

Communications Director Joy Alexander presented a software offer to centrally manage email signatures across county staff. Alexander said three vendors demonstrated platforms that automatically draw employee contact data from HR/IT systems and apply a standardized signature to all email clients, reducing errors, brand inconsistencies and the risk of phishing confusion. "For approximately 65¢ per employee, we can eliminate email signature errors and inconsistency," Alexander said; she proposed redirecting $5,000 from an existing software line and requested $12,400 in new funding to implement the service. (Joy Alexander, Communications Director)

Supervisors raised questions about name formatting pulled from HR records and asked staff to work with vendors to allow appropriate personalization (examples: preferred short names or degrees). Supervisor Brandy said the proposal "sounds very reasonable" and expressed support for reducing the time communications staff currently spend troubleshooting signature issues.

The board approved the supervisors’ budget by voice vote and placed the CIP increase and the communications software proposal in the budget offers for future consideration; the preliminary vote passed and staff will carry the offers forward for final budget deliberations.

Ending: The board agreed to advance the operating budget and the two offers for further review in the budgeting process; communications staff will pursue vendor details and HR/IT integration options if funding is approved in final budget stages.