Adams County staff present proposed 2026 one‑time budget, CIP priorities and head‑start funding gap

County finance and department staff presented the Board of County Commissioners with the proposed one‑time operating requests, capital improvement plan (CIP) recommendations and major maintenance and replacement plan for fiscal 2026 at a study session on Oct. 31.

Staff identified three categories of one‑time requests: nonrecurring operating items (studies, pilots, scholarships), capital projects (CIP) and major maintenance/replacement. They said these items are eligible for fund balance because they do not create ongoing base budget growth. The presentation included a full list of recommended, “parking lot” and not‑recommended CIP projects along with staff scoring and capital projects committee recommendations.

Staff highlighted a Head Start operating request of $2,294,000 that would address salary and lease cost increases tied to the county’s Head Start operations. Staff broke the $2,294,000 request into components: $225,000 for additional…