Gage County supervisors opened early discussions of the fiscal year 2025–26 county budget on June 25, inviting nonprofit agencies to present funding requests and pressing staff and elected officials to keep tax requests conservative while reviewing allocations to outside organizations.

Board members said the usual practice in recent years has been to hold most agency funding flat and that the board will invite organizations such as the Historical Society and Hope Crisis to make five-minute presentations describing their programs and funding requests. County staff noted the legislature last year changed rules that now allow counties to provide funding again to some organizations that had previously been ineligible.

The board also discussed ongoing funding for rural fire districts, the Mutual Finance Organization (MFO) distribution and whether the county should review allowed mill levies that send revenue to townships, fire districts and other entities. Supervisors asked staff to pull documentation showing how mill-levy allocations are calculated and noted the county’s role as a steward of limited tax dollars.

Sheriff Gustafson addressed his departmental budget priorities during the same session. He told the board the department needs replacement service handguns (the current issue weapons were described as about 20 years old), ammunition, and body cameras. He also described a planned multi-year payment for body-camera replacement estimated at roughly $40,000 per year over five years and described a $31,000 estimate tied to updating office computers for Windows 11 compatibility. The sheriff said e-citation equipment and in-car computers have been purchased but not yet fully commissioned because of installation and training scheduling.

Board members asked the sheriff to provide more detailed estimates for procurement and whether the school resource officer’s vehicle and equipment costs could be shared with the school district. Supervisors indicated they will continue to review requests individually and bring agencies in for brief presentations before making final budget decisions.