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Boone County Council obligates up to $300,000 more for comprehensive-plan update; keeps $100,000 for 2025
Summary
The Boone County Council voted to obligate up to $300,000 in additional funding in the 2026 budget for a comprehensive plan update, maintaining a $100,000 allocation for 2025 and capping the total project at $400,000.
The Boone County Council voted at the meeting to obligate up to an additional $300,000 in the 2026 budget for an update to the county comprehensive (area) plan, while reaffirming a $100,000 allocation for 2025 and a total project cap not to exceed $400,000.
Council members opened a public hearing on the request before taking the vote. Two members of the public, John Mercer and Brian Daughey of Lebanon, spoke in support during the hearing; Daughey said the Farm Bureau “has supported and encouraged the comprehensive plan update.”
Council members and staff said the comprehensive-plan contract is intended to cover a multi-year process that could take about 18 months to two years. County staff told the council the project will focus initially on how the comp plan addresses a moratorium and issues including alternative energy, battery storage and carbon sequestration. The county has budgeted $100,000 for 2025; council action at the meeting commits the county to cover up to $300,000 more in 2026 so the whole contract will not exceed $400,000.
A council member moved to obligate up to an additional $300,000 for the comprehensive plan update (Line 3134) in the 2026 budget. The motion passed on a voice vote.
County staff said the contractor would be paid through the multi-year process and that the governing bodies needed to approve the funding before work progresses. Council members and staff also discussed a timeline for budget work: staff expected to receive a fiscal model in late July, department budget liaisons to meet through August, and final budget adoption planned for October.
The council’s action commits the county to pay the contractor from future budgeted appropriations; it does not authorize immediate additional spending beyond the 2025 $100,000 already budgeted.
Next steps include staff receiving and circulating the Baker Tilly fiscal model, council liaisons scheduling department budget meetings in July–August, and full-day budget discussions scheduled for Aug. 12, with remaining public hearings and adoption steps into September and October.
