Benton County budget committee approves 2025–27 budget, tax rates and a package of amendments

Benton County’s budget committee voted Friday to approve the proposed 2025–27 county budget and to set permanent and local-option tax rates, and it adopted several follow-up amendments that shift existing reserves and contingency money rather than raising new taxes.

The committee approved the budget as presented by county staff and set the permanent property tax rate used to support the county’s operations. Members later approved an amendment that adds $847,000 to the special grant fund to carry forward and expand the state deflection program allocations. The committee also approved several internal reallocations to preserve the sheriff’s work‑crew program, restore a management deferred‑compensation contribution, and create a nominal $1 line for future jail replacement planning.

Why it matters: the decisions fix the county’s fiscal direction for the next biennium and create designated funding lines and internal transfers that staff and the board of commissioners can use during final adoption. Committee members and staff emphasized a mix of maintaining reserves while protecting programs that county officials and community partners called essential, such as court facilities, emergency operations, community grants and the sheriff’s work crew.

Most important actions and outcomes

- The committee moved and approved the permanent tax rate as presented in the staff packet. A separate motion approved the local option levy rate. Recorded roll-call vote tallies were not read aloud by name; all recorded votes on those motions were unanimous among committee members present.

- The committee approved the proposed 2025–27 budget as presented by staff (the original staff motion referenced $539,427,492). Committee members then approved amendments that increase the budget only for the deflection program and otherwise accomplish internal reallocations of contingency/transfer lines; the deflection grant…