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Linn County staff outline FY2027 budget calendar, flag limited revenue and 3.5% salary placeholder
Summary
Budget Director Sarah Barrows walked the board through the FY2027 calendar, submission deadlines and requirements for department presentations, and said a 3.5% placeholder for non‑bargaining managers (recommended by Lisa Powell) will be discussed and decided at the next meeting.
Sarah Barrows, Linn County budget director, told supervisors at their Nov. 8 meeting that staff are preparing the FY2027 budget calendar and will present final offer‑pot figures after auditor valuations and ongoing negotiations.
"The board asked that we just go over a few things for the FY '27 budget," Barrows said, noting key review dates in January and February when the county will assemble final numbers and determine any available offer pot.
Barrows flagged revenue uncertainty tied to property‑tax rollbacks and valuations, saying rollbacks "didn't look too great," which reduces the taxable value the county can use. She urged departments to notify budget staff of any anticipated new general‑fund revenues and reminded presenters that budget narratives or PowerPoints must be uploaded to OpenGov at least one week before a scheduled department presentation.
Barrows reiterated procedural details: departments should include at least one KPI (the Government Finance Officers Association requires one per department), and when proposing new requests staff should clearly indicate whether those are one‑time or ongoing expenses. She also repeated that FY2026 projections may be adjusted directly, but salary and benefit changes for FY2027 must go through Human Resources (Amy Vermey) so the county can calculate them correctly.
On compensation, Barrows said staff will include a placeholder for non‑bargaining unit management salaries; the current recommendation from Lisa Powell is 3.5 percent. The board agreed to discuss and decide on that placeholder at a follow‑up meeting.
The board thanked staff for advance work on budgets and reminded departments that materials are due seven days before presentations so staff have time to compile and prepare the combined budget documents.
