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Douglas County commissioners set 1.5% delinquency rate, trimming mill-levy impact while preserving behavioral health reserves
Summary
Commissioners agreed July 14 to use a 1.5% delinquency rate for mill-levy calculations, a change that slightly lowers the county mill levy while leaving roughly $953,776 in ongoing capacity in the behavioral health fund, staff said.
Douglas County commissioners on July 14 agreed to use a 1.5% delinquency rate when calculating the county mill levy, a move staff said will slightly reduce the county tax rate while preserving most of the behavioral health fund’s capacity.
Staff presented the behavioral health fund update at the start of the session and said the fund’s ongoing capacity is “just under $953,776,” leaving that amount available to support ongoing behavioral health operations. “Your current capacity is just under 1000000 $953,776,” the staff member said during the presentation. Commissioners discussed how transfers from the general fund and updated sales-tax revenue estimates affected that capacity.
The delinquency-rate conversation focused on the trade-off between lowering the mill levy today and retaining cushion against higher-than-expected delinquencies. One commissioner said keeping a $1,000,000 benchmark in ongoing behavioral health capacity had been a personal target but that the current level was “not too uncomfortable.” The chair described a primary goal of maintaining a flat mill levy, saying, “It is not a goal of mine to lower the mill levy,” while also acknowledging that a modest reduction would be acceptable to some colleagues.
Several commissioners cited programmatic risks that argue for caution, including possible shifts in the PPS rate and other state or federal funding changes. One commissioner noted the potential for “significant changes potentially, coming down for the PPS rate,” and recommended keeping a conservative reserve. After discussion, commissioners signaled consensus around a 1.5% delinquency rate for the mill-levy calculation; staff was instructed to reflect that change in the mill-levy summary and to prepare required R&R notices.
Staff told commissioners they would calculate where general-fund reserve levels would sit after the day’s changes and would return to finalize the maximum mill levy rate for public notices. The commission adjourned with plans to reconvene the next morning to wrap up any outstanding budget items.
