Commissioners approve FY 2025–26 year-end amendments, shifting fund balances and reducing general fund by $514,768

Finance Director Heather Woody presented a set of FY 2025–26 year-end budget amendments and adjustments at the June 29 meeting. The changes reallocated revenues and expenditures across funds, closed the COVID-19 fund, corrected municipal-collection balances, and appropriated fund balance where necessary to address shortfalls.

Woody told commissioners that the general fund portion of the budget decreased by $514,768 to a revised total of $80,026,705 and that total adjustments to fund balance equaled $2,317,737. She explained major items: Public Safety required appropriation of about $645,087 in fund balance related to federal inmate-fund shortages and salary/operating overruns; human-services budgets were reduced by $1,374,000 because those departments are state-reimbursed when expenses occur; and other fund adjustments addressed municipal pass-throughs and debt service. Woody said the county will not know final fund-balance usage until September because late invoices and revenue receipts will be posted through mid-September.

Commissioners asked for clarification about red numbers and fund-balance usage; Woody stated she tries to reallocate underperforming budgets to cover shortfalls and keeps small buffers in case of unexpected invoices. After discussion, Commissioner Lavern Coleman moved to approve the year-end amendments; the motion passed unanimously. The auditor contract amendment and third-party accountant addendum were discussed and approved earlier in the session.