Cole County auditor presents tighter 2026 budget; commission receives proposal

County Auditor Jay presented the Cole County proposed 2026 budget and told commissioners on Thursday the county faces slightly lower revenues and reduced reserves.

Jay said total revenues for 2026 are projected at about $64 million, down from $66 million last year — a roughly $2 million (3%) decrease — and that sales tax receipts are projected just under $23 million based on Oct. 1, 2024–Sept. 30, 2025 actuals and assumed flat for 2026. He said property taxes are forecast at just under $7 million (an increase of about $520,000) and use taxes at roughly $4 million, up from $3.7 million.

The auditor outlined expenses projected at about $93.8 million for 2026, down from $99.5 million in 2025. He attributed the overall expense decline primarily to reduced capital outlays and lower grant expenditures, and noted the county’s beginning-cash balance across funds of about $56.8 million and an expected year-end cash balance near $27.4 million.

Jay walked commissioners through fund-level impacts: the general fund’s beginning balance was shown at about $31.1 million and, after net operating revenues, capital outlays (including a new juvenile detention center) and transfers, the projected year-end general fund reserve is approximately $17.4 million. He singled out the law-enforcement sales-tax fund as a concern, projecting a year-end balance near $314,000 and reserve coverage of about 2.8% (less than one month of expenditures), and said that will be a monitoring challenge for the sheriff.

On capital requests, the auditor said public-works capital outlays total about $917,000 (including $616,000 for equipment), law-enforcement capital requests total about $418,000 and EMS requests include two ambulances (~$679,000) and a $500,000 station remodel. He also reported sales-tax–funded capital-improvement requests of roughly $43.7 million against available funds around $5.4 million and flagged uncertainty in estimates for courthouse/jail HVAC costs.

On personnel costs, Jay said full-time-equivalent staffing has grown since 2016 (about 70 positions, ~23%), and called out a nurse-practitioner position with an approximate salary of $110,000 that has not generated anticipated offsetting revenue and will need commissioner consideration. He proposed a 2% cost-of-living adjustment for 2026 while delaying merit increases pending a pending salary study.

The auditor described health-insurance pressures and a proposal that increases the county’s direct cost allocation by 20 percent; employee contributions were previously $20 per month and are proposed to rise to $50. Jay said the county maintains an $85,000 per-employee stop-loss policy to protect against catastrophic claims but cautioned the self-insurance fund could be stressed over the next 9–12 months. He noted a one-time transfer of marijuana sales-tax proceeds (about $583,000) to shore up the self-insurance fund.

After the presentation, commissioners thanked Jay for the review. Speaker 1 moved to "receive and accept" the auditor’s proposed 2026 budget into the record; Speaker 2 seconded, and the commission voted in favor to receive the proposal.

The auditor and commissioners emphasized that the numbers are a starting point: Jay said budget hearings with elected officials and department heads are scheduled for December and the commission retains the ability to revise the proposal during those hearings.