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Osage County hires consultant for 2026 financial projections; commissioners plan follow-up on payroll raises
Summary
The board approved a contract with consultant Scott Lloyd to prepare Osage County financial projections for the year ending Dec. 31, 2026, and discussed department-level budget adjustments to cover a previously approved raise pool that staff say exceeded the original $300,000 estimate.
The Osage County Board of County Commissioners approved an agreement with consultant Scott Lloyd to prepare county financial projections for the year ending Dec. 31, 2026, and later discussed how to reconcile a recently approved $300,000 pool for raises with actual payroll costs that county staff say rose to roughly $353,000–$356,000.
Commissioners voted to approve the contract with Lloyd to prepare the county’s financial projections; the meeting record identifies the engagement as covering preparation of financial projections for the county for the year ending 12/31/2026. The board then spent time on budget process items and on a previously approved employee raise package. One commissioner said the $300,000 figure previously approved did not match final payroll computations, which came in higher when the raise amounts were processed.
Staff and the consultant advised that departments should identify offsets within their own budgets — for example, by moving materials or rock-line budgets into a general fund line designated for raises — and that the county would create a general fund line item for each department to hold the transferred amounts. Commissioners asked that each department review its line items and return with details so the county can move money internally to cover the raise pool without additional appropriation, and they scheduled a follow-up budget discussion with department heads the next week.
Why it matters: the approach keeps the county’s approved raise pool intact while requiring departments to find internal offsets, a practice that changes which departmental line items pay for the increase and affects near-term cash-flow and reporting. Commissioners said Scott Lloyd and county staff would help finalize dates and the budget calendar once Lloyd’s contract work is underway.
The contract text and the exact dollar figures for the offset moves were not read into the public record during the meeting; commissioners requested additional detail from departments and from Lloyd to finalize the bookkeeping approach.
