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Shawnee County third-quarter review: property taxes at 99% of budget; other revenue lags on timing and interest
Summary
Financial administrator Jennifer Sauer told commissioners the county is close to meeting its property-tax budget (about $108.52 million collected against a $109.63 million budget) while 'other revenue' is at about $8.0 million of a $12 million budget, which Sauer attributed to timing and lower interest receipts; she offered to provide a year-end forecast.
Jennifer Sauer, financial administrator for Shawnee County, presented the county’s third-quarter financial overview at the Board of County Commissioners meeting on Nov. 13.
Sauer said the county’s 2025 revenue budget is roughly $145 million and that year-to-date revenues through the third quarter stand near $135.65 million. She highlighted property-tax receipts as the county’s largest revenue source: the county budgeted $109,628,000 for property taxes in 2025 and has collected about $108,519,000 so far, or about 99% of that target.
Sauer said other tax categories and charges for services are tracking variably. Charges for services had a 2025 budget of $7,381,000 with $5,926,000 collected through the third quarter. ‘‘Other revenue’’ was budgeted at $12,000,000; Sauer reported approximately $8,000,001 in collections (about 67.4% of that budget) and said the largest portion of that variance is interest income, which was higher in 2024 and has started to decline in 2025.
On expenditures, Sauer said the 2025 budgeted expenditures are about $145,475,000 and year-to-date expenses were just under $108,000,000, with law enforcement-related categories representing the largest share of spending. She said overall budget-to-actuals were close to historical norms and that no department was showing a concerning variance at this point.
Commissioners raised questions about timing and comparability of year-to-date numbers against full-year budgets, and Sauer explained that receipt timing (for example, interest and state reimbursements for inmate services) can skew apparent year-to-date results. She offered to prepare a year-end forecast to clarify how timing and accruals are likely to affect final results.
Sauer cautioned that forecasting is constrained by uncontrollable factors and timing but said she did not expect a dramatic variance from budgeted amounts by year-end.
The county did not take any formal actions on the financial report; Sauer noted staff would return with more detailed forecasts if concerning variances emerge.
