Adams County Board adopts amended 2025–26 budget after ClearGov data error; levy unchanged

Adams County Board members adopted an amended fiscal year 2025–26 budget on Jan. 13 after staff discovered duplicate and inactive accounts introduced by a ClearGov data export, finance committee members said.

Finance Committee Chair Mister Cooley told the board the amendment was required after a review found "data export and reporting issues involving ClearGov," which added inactive or duplicate accounts to the previously approved packet. Cooley said those phantom accounts reduced reported revenue by about $120,000 but did not change the county’s tax levy calculation.

The chair emphasized the core point to the board: "Nothing that we just talked about changed any of that, either higher or lower," and that the levy calculation had used the correct figures. Cooley said the larger increase on the expense side—moving a reported total from roughly $67 million to about $75 million—was driven mainly by HVAC bond accounts and other recently added capital accounts that had not carried through the original filtering process. He estimated roughly $4.5 million in remaining HVAC bond expenditures would appear in this year’s expenses.

Board members discussed the need for improved budget controls. Cooley said the episode highlighted the importance of locking budget data before board approval and reviewing software reporting procedures to ensure data integrity going forward.

After discussion, the clerk conducted a roll-call vote. The board voted unanimously to approve Ordinance 202601001005 as amended; the clerk announced "21 in favor, nonopposed." The finance committee said it will follow up on software controls and the highlighted account changes.

The board will meet next on Feb. 10 in the County Boardroom.