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Board presses for line-item detail as district presents 2026 budget overview
Summary
District staff presented a preliminary 2026 budget overview that reflected carryovers and new costs for the new recycling facility; board members asked staff to break utilities, insurance and other lines into detailed sub-items and to provide the analysis used to reach proposed totals before the council review.
Johnson County Solid Waste Management District staff presented the proposed 2026 budget to the board on July 11 and board members pressed for more detailed line-item breakdowns before the document goes to the county council.
Staff said the 2026 draft largely mirrors 2025 except for adjustments tied to the recycling center’s move into the new facility. The draft budget includes a proposed total levy-based operating budget and capital requests; staff said some figures remain estimates because the district has not previously paid utilities at the facility (those costs were included in prior rent) and because several cost lines will depend on vendor pricing and the installation schedule for equipment such as a permanent compactor.
“I did everything I could to find out the costs for 2026 that I was able to tangibly get real numbers for. The rest fully admit are guesstimates,” the district’s budget presenter said. Staff noted insurance is expected to increase; the presenter kept a placeholder amount of about $23,700 in the budget because the district’s insurance cycles renew in October and vehicle additions (a possible box truck) could further change premiums.
Board members repeatedly requested a more granular rollup: break utilities into electric, gas, water, sewer and communications; show year-to-date actuals for 2025 to provide a basis for 2026 estimates; and supply the vendor comparators or other sources used to produce estimates. One board member asked for the analysis behind the proposed totals: “All I’m asking you to do is give me that analyzation that you used to come up with the number,” he said.
Staff agreed to revisit the 2025 budget and add missing rent and utility detail and to provide a spreadsheet that shows how the 2026 totals were compiled for each line. The presenter explained that because the district is a special district with distinctly structured appropriations, accessing banked funds or moving line items may require a council appropriation and additional meetings; that procedural constraint influenced how the staff set placeholder totals.
The board did not vote on the budget at the meeting; staff will supply the requested breakdowns and comparative data before the budget is submitted to the council. Staff also noted that the Citizens Advisory Committee had reviewed and recommended the 2026 proposal to the board.
