Johnson County leaders begin FY2027 budget review, highlight housing, elections and eviction-mediation progress

Chair convened the Johnson County Board of County Commissioners on June 4 for a full-day review of FY2027 department requests and study-session follow-ups. Robin Symes of Budget and Financial Planning opened with an overview of the process and a summary of departments that were not presenting in person.

Symes said the study sessions held earlier in the year “have provided department information on service delivery, performance, and also alignment with county priorities,” and she pointed commissioners to detailed materials in the budget book. She noted several funded and proposed items outside today’s presenters: a one-time $106,000 allocation to help the appraiser migrate to a new state valuation system; a $25,000 one-time homeless-outreach pilot for winter hotel vouchers; and an ongoing $150,000 RER for countywide housing initiatives to support studies, market research and wastewater tap-fee payments.

The presentation also summarized the eviction-mediation pilot in district courts, which Symes said began in September 2023 and has produced substantial results: “a total of 883 mediation agreements have been completed with 79% of mediation successfully avoiding an eviction judgment,” language included in the packet. Commissioners asked whether longer-term ROIs—such as reductions in social-service or criminal-justice costs—are tracked. Budget staff said some outcomes appear in the budget book and additional analyses can be requested from departments.

Other highlights included elections’ electronic poll-book fleet of 770 iPads approaching end-of-life and a placeholder estimate of $1,000,000 for Johnson County’s share of the statewide voter-registration and election-management replacement. Legal requested two positions funded through reallocations to reduce outside-counsel costs; planning’s landlord-incentive program was funded ongoing at $200,000, and corrections proposed 90 body-worn cameras that were not funded in this draft of the budget.

Why this matters: Commissioners used the overview to identify which outside agencies to invite on June 18 and to press for clearer performance metrics and ROI reporting for programs such as eviction mediation and the landlord-incentive initiative. Several commissioners asked staff to provide supplemental analyses in the coming weeks.

What’s next: Budget staff will circulate additional materials on request, extend invitations to outside agencies for June 18, and provide follow-up information requested by commissioners, including program metrics and any available ROI analyses.