Boone County finance committee reviews budget, flags $5 million accounting discrepancy and approves contracts

The Boone County Committee of the Whole for Finance met Jan. 15 and heard a series of financial updates, adopted two procurement-related approvals and discussed proposed fee changes for animal services.

Treasurer Newport reported the county received $136,900 in earnest money from that morning's bond sale and reviewed investment activity. He flagged an apparent accounting/display discrepancy in Fund 30, the capital improvement fund, saying the fund's balance "is actually $5,000,000 higher than what's listed there" and that "the money's only missing from the paperwork. It's not missing anywhere else." Treasury staff said they will recheck journal postings and contact Tyler (the financial system vendor) if necessary.

Finance staff presented year-end results for 2025: budgeted revenues were $21,228,000 and actual revenues were about $23,000,465; expenditures were roughly $21,000,004.41, producing some overages tied to Sheriff's overtime ($123,000), unanticipated legal bills ($75,000) and utilities (~$80,000). Staff also reported ARPA program activity is nearly complete with total ARPA disbursements of $11,048,008.92 to date and a small remaining amount in interest and pending invoices.

The committee approved a 2026 owner's-representative services agreement with CCS, described in the meeting as a not-to-exceed monthly allocation (staff cited a projected monthly average near $24,060 and said CCS has been paid $345,227 to date). The motion passed by voice vote and will be added to the full county board agenda next week.

The committee also authorized work to replace two electrical panels on the courthouse second floor after staff reported panels showing burning and surging issues. One immediate panel repair was quoted at $5,826.08, with a combined two-panel cost estimated around $16,000 if additional work is required; the contractor referenced was Letourneau Electric (Chris Laterno). The item was approved by roll-call vote.

On policy discussions, staff proposed modest increases to animal services fees — for example, citation amounts proposed to rise from $75 to $100, owner relinquish fee from $50 to $100, a trip charge from $20 to $30 and modest increases to adoption fees — and said the changes were intended to better cover costs without discouraging adoptions; staff will return a final ordinance for next week if the committee supports the proposals.

The committee received an update on an IT services agreement with the City of Belvedere: a three-year draft at $110,000 annually with annual CPI or 3% increase was circulated to the county state's attorney and IT director for review; the county board is scheduled to vote next Thursday and the city council would consider it the following Monday.

What happens next: staff will research the Fund 30 reporting discrepancy with the accounting system vendor, finalize contract paperwork for CCS and the electrical work and return ordinances and final contract language for board action as scheduled.