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Nevada County adopts $466.5 million budget, delegates limited override authority to CEO and auditor-controller
Summary
The Nevada County Board of Supervisors unanimously approved the FY 2026-27 budget totaling $466,532,095 and adopted a new budget-override policy delegating limited authority to the county CEO and auditor-controller with requirements for retroactive board notification and reporting.
The Nevada County Board of Supervisors unanimously adopted its fiscal year 2026-27 budget of $466,532,095 on June 9, approving a package of companion resolutions including the appropriations limit, staffing and salary schedules, budget commitments and the countysalary resolution.
County CEO Lisonbee Laymon introduced CFO Erin Mettler, who framed the budget as the culmination of a more collaborative public process and explained a new budget-override policy tied to the countyfinance system. "This policy identifies the specific criteria that would have to be met before a budget override could be completed," Mettler said, adding that only the county executive officer and the auditor-controller would be eligible to make override determinations and that the board would be asked to provide retroactive approval at the next available meeting.
Board members pressed staff for safeguards and asked that the budget subcommittee receive advance notice when overrides are used. Supervisors sought caps for personnel-related overrides and clearer tie-ins to the countyemergency purchasing policy. Mettler and Laymon agreed to return specific numbers and to amend the policy to require notification to the budget subcommittee.
The board then voted on the series of budget resolutions by roll call; each measure passed with all five supervisory districts voting "yes." The agenda package included an appropriations limitation of $109,840,489 and adopted staffing and salary schedules for the new fiscal year. Mettler said the salary resolution reflected approximately a 5% increase driven by cost-of-living adjustments and benefit changes. "This culminates all previous actions into one proposed document," she said as the board took the final vote.
Under the adopted policy, overrides are intended to be narrow and tied to the county's internal control constraints posed by the new financial system; staff emphasized that overrides will be followed by a formal board report. Next steps include staff implementing notification procedures and returning with proposed personnel-caps and a cross-reference to the emergency-purchasing policy for the boardto consider.
