Cole County auditor presents 2026 budget; reserves drop and law-enforcement fund flagged

County Auditor Jay presented the Cole County Commission with his proposed 2026 budget and recommended the commission "receive and accept" the plan into the record. Jay told commissioners total revenues are projected at $64,000,000 for 2026, down $2,000,000 (3%) from the prior year, and total expenses are projected at $93,800,000. He said sales taxes are projected at about $23,000,000, property taxes at just under $7,000,000 (up about $520,000), use taxes at $4,000,000 (up from $3.7 million) and that ARPA-related funds budgeted for next year are roughly $943,000.

Jay walked commissioners through fund-level details, saying the county's general-fund beginning balance is approximately $31,100,000 and—after $14,000,000 in planned capital outlays, $800,000 of net transfers out and other items—would drop to roughly $17,400,000 by year end. "So our reserves are starting out the year at 31.1 and dropping to 17.4," he said. Jay also summarized countywide cash: a beginning cash balance across all funds of about $56,800,000, net operating of $4,400,000 and capital outlays of roughly $34,000,000.

The auditor highlighted several program and capital requests commissioners may revisit during December budget hearings: a $14 million juvenile-detention center and capital requests from the capital-improvement sales tax that total about $43.7 million against available resources of roughly $5.4 million. On law-enforcement sales-tax receipts, Jay warned the fund's reserve coverage is critically low—about 2.8% or less than one month of operating coverage—and said that will be a challenge for the sheriff's office going forward.

On personnel and benefits, Jay proposed a 2% cost-of-living adjustment for 2026, with no merit increases except career-ladder steps pending a salary study. He reviewed health-insurance costs and the county's self-insurance stop-loss coverage ($85,000 per employee), noting the county faces higher costs as more employees approach that threshold. "We have an $85,000 per-employee stop loss," Jay said, adding that increasing the stop-loss to $100,000 did not appear clearly beneficial in his quick review.

Commissioners asked clarifying questions about the county's self-insured status and stop-loss options. Presiding commissioners praised the presentation and, by voice vote after a motion and second, voted to receive and accept the auditor's proposed 2026 budget into the record; commissioners said budget hearings with elected officials and department heads will be scheduled in December for more detailed review.

Why it matters: the presentation shows the county faces narrowing revenues and falling reserves while capital needs and public-safety funding pressures remain. The commission accepted the recommendation but preserved the option to make changes during the December hearings.

Provenance: topicintro SEG 104, topfinish SEG 461.