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Knox County Commission tables plan to use 2025 budget as interim 2026 operating budget
Summary
After highlighting a roughly $308,000 shortfall and a $206,000 communications overage, commissioners voted to table a motion that would have adopted the 2025 budget as the county's interim operating budget for 2026 and asked for more department-level detail in January.
The Knox County Commission on Tuesday tabled a motion to adopt the 2025 budget as the county's interim operating budget beginning Jan. 1, 2026, after commissioners said the motion's wording and identified funding gaps left too many unanswered questions.
"I was in shock because this says, basically, we're gonna do exactly what we did in last year," the Chair said during a wide-ranging discussion about how strictly the interim budget language would bind department line items. Commissioners worried that carrying last year’s lines verbatim would prevent the county from honoring union contracts and making planned employee pay adjustments.
Kathy from county administration presented the department-level analysis that shaped much of the debate, saying "half of our departments could cover the increase for '26 to include the health insurance change," but adding that others could not. She estimated an on-paper uncovered exposure of about $308,000 and said communications alone accounted for roughly $206,000 of that gap. Kathy also noted potential offsets, including a $67,000 lease that will not recur in 2026 and a $191,000 capital vehicle allocation.
Commissioners discussed alternatives, including adopting a six-month interim budget or conducting quarterly check-ins and directing department managers to minimize discretionary spending such as overtime, training and travel. Several members asked for regular reporting and for department heads to attend the January meeting so the commission can see cross-department strategies to cover increases rather than reacting after problems appear.
After debate and a request to hear updates from the sheriff’s office and corrections before making a final call, a commissioner moved to table the interim budget decision until the commission’s January meeting. The motion to table carried.
The Chair and county administration said they will work with department managers and auditors — administration said it has asked auditors to move up the audit — to give the commission clearer year-end figures and options when it reconvenes in January.
