Polk County board submits $74.1 million 2026 budget proposal; taps $2.2M from general fund to cover projects

Polk County Board of Supervisors members discussed and received a proposed 2026 county budget totaling $74,110,443 during their Oct. 21 meeting in the Government Center Building. County staff said the proposal moves the Justice Center HVAC project and recycling-center equipment forward by using $2.2 million from the general fund and borrowing to stabilize the levy.

The budget presentation said revenues are projected at about $72.3 million against planned expenses of roughly $74 million; the county plans to use debt financing and fund balance to keep the base levy stable. The county’s levy was reported as $23.06 (the presentation described this as the maximum available levy), while the mill rate was shown dropping to $2.49 per $1,000 of assessed value. Sales-tax receipts are estimated at just over $5 million for 2026.

The presentation lists a $2.2 million draw from the general fund to cover the Justice Center HVAC work and payments toward finishing recycling-center equipment; after those allocations the slides reported approximately $5.8 million remaining in available fund balance. Borrowing of about $2.25 million was described as part of a financing plan that keeps the levy stable while spreading project costs; the presenter said interest rates used in planning are about 4.5 percent.

The draft budget includes modest changes to staffing and service hours. The presenter said the district attorney’s office position was increased from 20 hours to 30 hours, and two additional full-time equivalents were included in the Community Services Division. Capital project totals on the slides included roughly $8.7 million for parks and facilities work and listed several IT and cybersecurity items and HR learning-management investments.

Board members asked for clarifications about previously committed projects and rolled-over capital items. County staff identified that some projects date to 2022–2024, and cited the DD Kennedy walking bridge as an example of a multi-year item awaiting Department of Natural Resources approval before work can be completed. Committee-level recommendations and slides shown at earlier meetings were incorporated into the full-board presentation to avoid surprises, the presenter said.

The presentation also summarized outside-agency funding requests. The recommended amounts on the slides totaled about $301,009.50 and kept most agencies flat with the prior year; examples shown included a $4,000 allocation to Westcap and a $75,000 recommendation for fair societies. The presenter said economic-development and historical-society allocations were recommended at levels similar to 2025.

No formal final adoption vote on the county’s 2026 budget was recorded in the meeting transcript; the item was discussed and put before the board for consideration and questions.

Board questions reflected typical budget scrutiny: which balances were being used, whether previously authorized funds remained committed, and whether items in the capital-improvement plan could be accelerated to save future costs. The presenter answered that the Justice Center HVAC was the critical capital item being moved forward and that other projects were not deemed critical at this time.

What happens next: the slides and committee recommendations were incorporated into the full-board discussion on Oct. 21; the transcript does not record a final adoption vote or a specific schedule for subsequent hearings or final approval.