Sweetwater County projects $19.6 million shortfall for FY2026; commissioners weigh reserves and cuts

Sweetwater County commissioners heard a presentation May 6 showing a projected $19,595,398 deficit for fiscal year 2026 and discussed steps to close the gap.

"These are the projections of the unspent funds for 2025 or also known as the carryovers," said Rebecca Romero, accounting specialist, as she opened the workshop and walked commissioners through ClearGov figures and a PDF of preliminary numbers. Romero reported projected FY2026 revenues of $51,159,841 and total expenditures of $70,755,239, producing the $19,595,398 shortfall.

The nut graf: the county has choices but no final votes. Romero outlined options commissioners discussed: apply cash carryover, draw on reserves, pare capital spending, or reduce outside-agency and component-unit requests. Commissioners agreed more work is needed before formal decisions.

Romero detailed fund balances and carryovers. She said the county’s beginning fund balance was about $89 million, and cash carryover available for budgeting was $10,873,989. "If we were, as a group, to agree, yes, we want to go ahead and use whatever our carryover is to fund this year's budget, we could apply the $10,000,000 to our $19,000,000 deficit, and the current deficit we'd be looking at would be $8,721,409," Romero said. She also noted other available funds and that $500,000 in capital earmarked for the hospital could be returned to the general fund, and that reserves stood at about $43,455,238.

Commissioners emphasized they did not want to deplete long-term reserves without a plan. "We've got some work to do," said the chairman. Commissioner Rob pressed for prioritizing capital and budget choices so the group can target specific dollars for cuts or funding, saying, "I would really like to see this entire list but prioritized with the most important capital item rather than the most important by department." Other commissioners agreed the numbers made the situation clear but said more time was needed to study department budgets and outside-agency requests.

Romero flagged line-item changes and one-time revenue shifts: rural property tax receipts down $4 million, sales tax up, some state reimbursements down, a small decrease in cigarette tax, a modest increase in severance tax, and an estimated $1 million increase in penalties. She also noted an unexpected revenue increase in charges for services — "like marriage license, permits, things like that" — which contributed to a somewhat larger 2025 carryover.

Commissioners discussed budget timing. Romero confirmed the budget adoption deadline falls in late June; the body scheduled follow-up review at the next workshop (the board identified mid- to late-June dates). They also agreed to homework: commissioners and staff will run scenarios, revisit capital prioritization, and reexamine outside-agency requests before formal budget decisions.

Ending: No motions or votes were taken at the workshop. The group adjourned after agreeing to additional meetings and further analysis to reconcile the roughly $8.7 million remaining shortfall if the carryover is applied.