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County clerk warns of budget headwinds as commission debates pay
Summary
Cole County Clerk Jay Moore told the Salary Commission the county faces flattened sales tax receipts, exhausted ARPA funds, the end of marijuana sales-tax receipts and projected health-insurance increases of about 20%. Moore said he would propose a 2% COLA and no merit increases pending the salary study.
Jay Moore, Cole County's county clerk, briefed the Salary Commission Oct. 28 on the county's current financial condition and the challenges facing the 2026 budget.
Moore said the packet included customary financial reports and a summary of the 2025 budget by fund and department. He told commissioners that sales-tax receipts have flattened, ARPA funds have been fully expended, marijuana sales-tax receipts are no longer being received and capital-improvement needs exceed available funding. He said health-insurance costs are expected to grow by about 20%.
"I will be proposing the 2% cost of living in the budget in the next 2 weeks," Moore said, and he added that he planned to include no merit increases other than promotions and step increases while the commission awaits the salary study.
Commissioners asked whether the salary study would apply to 2026; Moore said the study's timing will determine whether adjustments could be implemented in 2026 or later. Several commissioners raised questions about how a separate pay increase for elected officials would interact with the county budget and noted that statutory requirements determine when and how elected-official salaries may change.
Moore's financial report set the budget context for the commission's later votes on a 5% pay increase for elected officials and on adopting the same COLA as county employees.
