County presents 2026 budget overview, cites reserve target and lost marijuana sales tax revenue
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Summary
Budget presenter Mike Summer told the council the proposed 2026 budget preserves a 10% general-fund reserve, includes 2% merit and 2% cost-of-living increases for employees, and omits adult-use marijuana sales tax revenue after a state Supreme Court ruling that may require refunds of previously collected amounts.
Mike Summer, presenting an overview of the St. Charles County proposed 2026 budget, told the council the administration achieved the goal of a 10% general-fund reserve in the plan on the table and described key revenue and expense items.
Summer noted the county's general fund is heavily sales-tax driven and that the budget includes a 2% merit increase and a 2% cost-of-living adjustment for employees. He also said contribution rates for police retirement will increase by 1 percentage point (from 12.5% to 13.5%) and that the county's match for certain defined-contribution retirement plans will rise slightly.
On revenue, Summer said the county will not budget adult-use marijuana sales tax for 2026 after a state Supreme Court ruling. He said the county previously collected roughly $2 million a year from those sales and that, over 26 months, the county collected about $3.6 million that "we may have to refund in the future." Later in discussion a staff member noted the county may owe roughly $3.8 million to the state; the meeting record contains both figures and they were not reconciled on the floor.
Summer reviewed that the headline $600 million figure often cited for the county budget includes approximately $272 million in carryover (rollover) funds for in-progress projects; he and council members estimated a narrower figure of roughly $325–350 million as the county's ongoing-operating budget depending on accounting for restricted special funds and road-board monies. He reminded the council that some funds (special and restricted) cannot be repurposed freely and that ARPA funds must be spent by 2026.
Council members asked about the dollar value of the 10% reserve; staff said the target is roughly $60 million and that the reserve supports bond ratings. Members also discussed whether unfilled positions' salary savings roll over to the next year; staff said some funds may be carried forward.
Council scheduled additional work sessions on the budget for November and December and were shown where detailed budget documents and fund summaries can be found online.
