Shawnee County reports preliminary 2024 revenues above budget; $34.36 million in ARPA SLFRF largely spent on capital projects

Jennifer Sauer, Shawnee County financial administrator, told the Board of County Commissioners on Monday that preliminary 2024 revenues are about $144 million, exceeding the county’s budget, and that most American Rescue Plan Act State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds (ARPA SLFRF) have been spent on capital improvements.

Sauer said the county’s year-end accounting is not final — Shawnee County has a 60-day window to recognize prior-year revenues and expenses and expects to post final entries during March. She said the county’s formal financial statements will be completed as part of the annual audit process scheduled for mid-April, with audited financials due in June or July.

The preliminary summary shows revenues above budget in several categories, Sauer said. Charges for services — driven by planning, parks and recreation fees and health department fees — were about $6.6 million compared with a budget of roughly $6.3 million. “Other revenues,” she said, were about $14.6 million versus a budget of about $10.3 million; Sauer attributed much of that gap to higher-than-expected interest income.

Sauer said property tax collections “came in just about exactly where we budgeted,” and that most department spending tracked near budgeted levels. She reported preliminary county expenditures of roughly $138 million against a budget of about $139.5 million, and noted that departments requested late-year transfers into capital projects to ease 2025 spending needs.

On debt service, Sauer presented the county’s current schedule and said approximately $400,000 of debt payments fall off in 2025 and 2026, with larger amounts — over $1 million — scheduled to end in 2027 and 2028. Commissioners asked for a detailed debt schedule showing the underlying bonds and typical term lengths; Sauer said the county maintains a schedule and can provide it.

Sauer also reviewed the county’s ARPA SLFRF spending. She said Shawnee County received $34,355,895 and that roughly 80.9% of the ARPA dollars were used for county capital improvement projects selected by the county’s ARPA committee and the commission. Major uses included courthouse renovations (HVAC, lighting, windows, two added courtrooms and a jury assembly room, plus upgraded courtroom audio-visual and security configurations), detention center repairs (roofing, boilers, annex HVAC, fire alarm work), parks and recreation upgrades (Lake Shawnee campground, mini train replacement, turf replacement at Pony Field), and a range of public-safety and IT investments.

Sauer listed other ARPA-funded items that county staff said were intended to be one-time expenditures with long-term benefits: a DOC detainee body scanner, upgrades to a sheriff’s training complex, procurement of a used mobile communications vehicle for emergency management, a nurse navigation program, remote worker technology and a data center upgrade requested by the courts. She said the county funded polling-place sanitation and cleaning for recent elections and purchased UVGI and HEPA filtration units for the health department. Sauer noted that administrative and government services expenses remained under 2% of total ARPA spending.

Commissioners thanked staff for the ARPA oversight. One commissioner said the $15 million courthouse component, in particular, should extend the building’s useful life and avoid near-term replacement costs. Sauer closed by thanking members of the county’s ARPA ("spark") committee and accounting staff for their work and said a small group of projects and administrative close-out tasks will remain open until ARPA funds are fully expended and the accounting close-out is complete.

Next steps: Sauer said the county will post final year-end entries in March, begin the audit in mid-April and expects audited financial statements by June or July.