County begins 2026 budget process; board told levy limits and timeline

Assistant Finance Director Jennifer Steinmetz opened the county’s 2026 budget process to the board, explaining the roles of department heads, policy committees, the county administrator and the full board and laying out the timeline for budget preparation, public hearings and levy resolution.

Steinmetz said the county follows a three-phase process: department-head requests (DH requested), the county administrator’s proposed budget (CA proposed), and final board adoption. She reminded the board that the county must comply with state-imposed levy limits during the budget process and that the county administrator is required to provide a sales-tax plan and a balanced proposed budget.

Key dates Steinmetz listed: May — budget kickoff and distribution of budget guidance; June — final position-based budgeting (PBB) reports and presentation of the CIP and sales-tax resolutions; August — compilation and meetings with departments; October — county administrator presents the CA proposed budget to the executive committee and the budget summary will be published at least 15 days before the public hearing as required by state statute; November — two board meetings, the first (Thursday, Nov. 6) for public comment and presentation of the CA proposed budget, and the second (Wednesday, Nov. 12) to approve the levy resolution (the second meeting is scheduled on Nov. 12 because Nov. 11 is Veterans Day and state statute requires the meeting be held on the succeeding day).

Steinmetz said departments will be provided PBB reports showing wages and benefit costs and that policy committees will review department requests before forwarding them to the county administrator. She said any board changes to the administrator’s proposed budget must produce a balanced budget before adoption.