Department of Taxation presents FY 2025–26 budget-filing guidance to local governments

Kelly Langley, one of the presenters, opened a Department of Taxation briefing for local-government fiscal staff on preparing FY 2025–26 budgets and said attendees would receive the slide deck and a follow-up checklist by email.

The training reviewed required submission materials and formatting, with presenters stressing that two single-sided, unbound hard copies must be mailed to the department and an electronic copy emailed for record of receipt. “If we receive that email the day you’re mailing it, we will actually note that you have submitted it,” Langley said, adding that the emailed timestamp can be used as the submission date to avoid late-filing concerns.

Presenters walked through the transmittal letter (Schedule 1), telling local governments to place agency letterhead at the top and to list the name of the entity in the first paragraph. They said paragraph 2 should record only the number of funds that receive property-tax revenue (and the total property-tax amount) and that the declaration of total expenditures must agree with Schedule A1 totals. The presenters also told attendees to include page numbers when the budget package exceeds 10 pages to aid departmental review.

On public-hearing timing, the presenters said the tentative public hearing date on the transmittal must fall between May 19 and May 31 (no sooner than the third Monday in May) and that newspaper notice must run seven to 14 days before the hearing. The department checks published dates against statutory timing requirements and will notify entities if dates fall outside the allowable window.

The session detailed several schedule-specific checks meant to prevent common errors. For Schedule S3 (statistics), presenters said the first part gathers FTEs and population (as of July 1) and that assessed valuation and net proceeds figures may be taken from the department’s revenue projections and the red book. “You want to make sure you don’t use the preliminary. You want to make sure you use the final,” the presenter said, noting final projections are used for the budget year.

On calculations for levy distribution, presenters demonstrated how to compute each levy’s share of the total tax rate (divide the individual levy by the total tax rate to produce a percentage that should sum to 100 percent). They explained how to apply the pro forma (the department’s pro forma numbers were referenced) and cautioned that abatements reduce collectible revenue, so jurisdictions should not budget assuming 100 percent collection of gross tax.

Presenter guidance on Schedule A and Schedule A1 emphasized that Schedule A (revenues) and Schedule A1 (expenditures) must list funds in the same order so matching column totals simplify departmental checks; consolidated taxes and other non-property taxes should not be reported on the property-tax-only column. The presenters also summarized the four object categories used on Schedule A1—salaries and wages; employee benefits; services and supplies; capital outlay—and said figures on budgets should reconcile with audit numbers where applicable.

Debt reporting was covered: use Schedule C17 when debt is paid with property tax and Schedule C15/C16 when debt is paid from operating resources (C15 is the revenue side and C16 the expenditure side). The presenters also reviewed Schedule 31 (contract summary), which should list existing privatization contracts and planned contract expenditures for the next two fiscal years and should include the entity’s auditor on that page.

Presenters answered attendee questions during the call. Annette Kerr (Alco) asked whether the transmittal paragraph should list only the one fund that receives property tax when a jurisdiction’s property tax flows into the general fund; the presenter replied, “Only the funds that have property tax only and and plus the debt service. Any other taxes do not go there.”

Helen (Nye County) asked how to record transfers sent to another county entity that has a separate budget; the presenter said the payments would be recorded as an expense and suggested they could be shown under services and supplies or other charges, and offered to review the specific situation offline.

The presenters closed by saying they will send the slide deck, calculation examples, an attendance list, and the missing checklist to attendees and encouraged jurisdictions to contact budget analysts before filing to reduce corrections. “We are here to help you,” a presenter said.

Next steps: the department will circulate the materials and remain available for follow-up questions prior to budget submissions.