Lake County Board adopts final FY 2025–26 budget after amendments on animal control, capital projects and nonprofit grant

The Lake County Board of Supervisors adopted the final recommended budget for fiscal year 2025–26 and approved related position-allocation changes after a day-long public hearing and multiple amendments.

County staff presented increases in some revenue lines, debt and ARPA (American Rescue Plan Act) draws, and proposed adjustments to capital projects and reserves. After public comment and a lengthy board discussion—particularly about animal-control funding, a $50,000 funding request from the nonprofit 1 Team 1 Dream and the status of a long-held $2 million allocation for South Main Street/Soda Bay projects—the board voted to approve the budget and to amend the position-allocation chart.

The budget presentation noted updated receipts for transient occupancy tax (TOT) of $1,346,443—about $413,000 higher than the prior year—and higher cannabis revenue, “just over $3,500,000,” an increase of roughly $921,000 compared with the prior year. County staff said $3,000,000 of ARPA had been claimed for the Armory project; the county also has drawn $4,600,000 so far from a lease revenue bond with approximately $16,000,000 remaining available to draw. Staff noted a November interest payment of $455,300 and a May payment of $935,300 (principal and interest) tied to that financing.

Staff proposed removing capital funding for the South Main Street and Soda Bay waterline projects—items that have been on hold—but the board did not direct removal at the meeting. Supervisor comments urged that the board use the year to pursue finality with city partners before removing the funds; one supervisor said the city remained willing to discuss fire-suppression partnerships for the commercial area served by that road.

Board members discussed multiple reserve and contingency moves: a proposed $1,000,000 increase to contingency for cash-flow purposes tied to the timing of property-tax receipts, a proposal to replenish a building-and-infrastructure reserve with fund-balance-available (FBA) after a recent $282,000 withdrawal, a $300,000 reduction to a parks reserve for Hammond Park, $100,000 for Milltown pool enclosure design, and movements of technology-modernization and salary-stabilization reserves described in the presentation.

The hearing included a sustained discussion of animal control funding and operations. An interim animal-control director and multiple supervisors argued the county needs more funding, weekend coverage and spay/neuter support. County fiscal staff said animal-control medical care was reduced because the fund-balance-available was lower than anticipated; they described salary savings and other reductions used to balance that account. Board members proposed several paths: (1) adding one fully loaded animal-control officer FTE (~$65,000 on current payroll projections, with some supervisors suggesting $75,000 to be conservative) and (2) a larger, more robust agency costing in the range of several hundred thousand dollars if the board chose to expand services, spay/neuter clinics and on-call weekend coverage.

Rather than decide funding sources immediately, the board directed staff to further analyze options. Supervisors discussed using cannabis fund revenue for COPTR/Copter-related services (the transcript refers to the program as “Copter” or “COPTR”), and some members favored unlocking a modest amount now while returning with a structured plan. The board agreed to add one animal-control officer to the position allocation (increasing officers from four to five) and to pursue formation of an ad hoc group to refine COPTR funding and approach; staff indicated the necessary accounting entries would be made at midyear.

The meeting also included a public comment request from Ayes Murray, founder of Quadruple Threats, seeking clarity about who pays for family-court supervised visitation services and noting difficulty starting services in Nice. Olga Martin Steele, co-founder and chair of Hands Up Lake County, appeared to speak in support of a small-business competition program and said outcome reports had been provided with the budget materials.

The board considered a $50,000 request from the nonprofit 1 Team 1 Dream included in the recommended budget. Several supervisors questioned whether the award structure constituted a permissible use of public funds or a “gift of public funds.” The board directed county counsel to prepare a legal finding on that point and removed the $50,000 from the budget as presented; staff was directed to return the item no later than the first meeting in November (the board specified a 30-day review period) with legal guidance and recommended contracting terms if the funding were to be offered.

Two formal resolutions were offered and passed in roll-call votes: adoption of the final recommended budget (as amended) and adoption of the amended position allocation/classification changes. During the roll calls, Supervisors Owen, Sabatier, Rasmussen, Paiske and Crandall recorded “Aye” on both measures.

County staff also identified several smaller budget changes to be reflected in the final documents: a $135,887.90 transfer of TOT proceeds to the housing trust fund (staff noted the board approved an MOU allocating one-ninth of TOT revenue to that fund), creation of a capital asset for a $210,599 solar-backup battery request in Probation, two convection ovens for the sheriff ($20,000), and a $51,848 capital asset addition tied to a state grant vehicle for behavioral health’s mobile crisis program (staff said the vehicle arrived damaged and the vendor needs to be reordered through grant funds). Staff said remaining ARPA-eligible projects total about $1,700,000 that must be expended and claimed by Dec. 31, 2026.

The board concluded the hearing by voting to adopt the budget and to amend the position-allocation chart as presented. Supervisors and staff agreed to follow up on the outstanding items—South Main/Soda Bay funding deliberations, the legal opinion on the nonprofit payment, and a more detailed animal-control funding plan to be returned for further board action.