The La Paz County Board of Supervisors voted unanimously June 2 to adopt a tentative fiscal year 2025–26 county budget totaling $22,700,000, including a 3.5% cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) for county employees and the La Paz County Jail District.

The tentative budget, presented by Miss Spielman, uses conservative revenue projections and a mix of transfers and special revenue funds to cover expenses without asking voters for a property tax increase. “We are presenting a budget that does not require us to go to the taxpayers for any increase in their property taxes,” Spielman told the board during the presentation.

The document rolls general-fund revenue estimates of about $20,500,000 together with roughly $2,100,000 in transfers in to reach the $22.7 million figure. Spielman said county leaders also embedded the 3.5% COLA into department budgets and absorbed a 4.5% increase in health insurance premiums rather than shifting that cost to employees. She described a change in the PSPRS contribution rate that helped create capacity for the COLA.

The board’s tentative package includes targeted adjustments to several departments. Spielman said animal control required increased operating funding and new point-of-sale technology after a record number of animals strained kennels and supply lines; she estimated roughly an additional $25,000 in operations for that department versus the May presentation. The sheriff’s office will receive additional funding partly supported by boating-safety revenues to place another deputy on river patrol; combined adjustments for animal control and the sheriff’s office total about $88,000 to the general fund, Spielman said.

Public works will include a $20,000,000 line item for the Vicksburg Road project in the enterprise fund; the county intends to treat that amount as excluded from its state expenditure limitation pending final state budget action. Spielman said Walker & Armstrong and the auditor general were consulted about the exclusion and that the county will refine the figure after the state adopts its budget.

Special revenue funds reported in the presentation total about $35,500,000 and are shown supporting a range of county programs. Spielman said staff expect the FY26 submission to the state to be posted on the county website within seven days if the board adopts the tentative budget.

The board voted to approve the tentative county budget by voice vote. Supervisors then recessed as the Board of Supervisors and convened as the La Paz County Jail District Board of Directors to approve a tentative jail district budget; the jail district presentation showed projected revenues of about $2,800,000 and a total budgeted amount near $4.6 million, including a 3.5% COLA for the jail district. The jail district tentative budget was also approved by unanimous voice vote.

The county finance staff stressed the presentation used conservative revenue assumptions from their consultants and noted ongoing work on a comprehensive fee study, a county asset inventory and outstanding audits for FY2023 and FY2024 as next steps to improve fiscal visibility.

The board’s action on June 2 was a tentative adoption; final budget hearings and required state filings remain part of the statutory process before amounts become final.