Davidson County manager presents conservative FY2026 revenue plan, highlights slowing sales-tax growth and steady property collections

County Manager Casey opened the county——budget briefing on March 6 by telling the Board of Commissioners that staff is building a conservative FY2026 general-fund budget centered on steady property-tax receipts, slower sales-tax growth and careful use of fund balance. Casey said property valuations have roughly doubled over 20 years and remain the most predictable revenue source, while sales-tax growth has slowed from double-digit gains to roughly 1.5—to—2% recently. "We're not growing at the double-digit rate sales tax wise that we were just a few years ago," Casey said.

The county manager walked commissioners through a set of dashboards staff uses to monitor revenue and salary risk in near-real time. He described the dashboards as a tool to spot trends early and to prompt corrective action if collections or payrolls drift off plan. The presentation highlighted a roughly $16—million property-tax…