OMB director: county facing $144 million in unfunded mandates in FY27; tentative budget balanced at $1.27B

Timothy Jex presented a history of unfunded state mandates the county pays from property-tax funds and said the total cost of those mandates is about $144,000,000 in fiscal year 2027, up from $63,000,000 in 2017. He itemized statutes that require local expenditures — Medicaid cost contributions, medical examiners, public health services, detention facility maintenance, 911 infrastructure, local emergency management and employer FRS contributions — and said those costs have outpaced CPI inflation for the period.

Jex also presented the tentative FY2026–27 budget package the board approved for tentative adoption: a balanced tentative budget with revenues and expenditures totaling $1,270,000,000 and tentative millage rates unchanged from current rates but above the rollback rate (aggregate tentative millage 7.3620 mills, 4.01% above rollback). The board moved and voted unanimously to adopt the tentative millage rates and tentative budget; a second and final public hearing is scheduled for Sept. 22, 2026.