Linn County preliminarily approves Finance Department FY2027 budget of $876,473

Linn County’s finance and budget committee preliminarily approved the Finance Department’s proposed FY2027 budget of $876,473 during a regular meeting. The committee approved the measure by voice vote after staff presented audit results, ongoing staffing plans and software-driven controls.

Presenter Unidentified Speaker 1 described operational changes intended to reduce audit risk and manual workload, saying the county uses saved searches in its NetSuite/GovSense system to flag transactions "that could create an issue" before they are approved. She noted the county completed its financial statement and single-audit work early this year with no findings, a result supervisors praised as evidence of strong controls.

Unidentified Speaker 3 and other supervisors commended the finance team’s work, with one supervisor saying the county’s reports are "no questions asked, no concerns, like gold star." Staff highlighted efforts to maintain the county’s AAA bond rating, continue participation in GFOA award programs and add user-facing budget tools through OpenGov so department staff can see positions and account codes in near‑real time.

On staffing, the presenter said the department is budgeted at two full positions for FY27 and that a current ARPA-funded position will complete its work by December 2026. She also described a team of five FTEs in the finance group (finance director, budget director and three senior accountants) with cross-training to ensure coverage during audits and leave.

The motion to preliminarily approve the Finance Department budget was made and seconded by unidentified supervisors and passed by voice vote; individual roll-call votes were not recorded. The committee did not change operating line items and noted most adjustments would be minimal.

Next steps: the preliminary approval advances the Finance Department budget in the county’s overall budget process pending any further amendments or final adoption.