Spending rose while revenue barely changed
The Assessor budget unit’s total appropriations increase from $10,168,034 in fiscal 2024–25 actual results to $13,573,295 in the adopted 2025–26 plan. That is a $3,405,261 increase, or 33.5%.
Revenue is budgeted at $3,311,500, only $36,018 below the prior actual level. With receipts essentially flat, the magnitude of net county cost rises from $7,270,516 to $10,261,795—$2,991,279, or 41.1%.
| Measure | FY 2024–25 actual | FY 2025–26 adopted | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue | $3.35M | $3.31M | −$0.04M |
| Salaries and benefits | $9.39M | $11.04M | +$1.64M |
| Services and supplies | $0.77M | $0.90M | +$0.12M |
| Total appropriations | $10.17M | $13.57M | +$3.41M |
| Net county cost | $7.27M | $10.26M | +$2.99M |
A new financing-use line exceeds the services increase
Salaries and benefits rise $1,644,542, or 17.5%, and services and supplies rise $121,020, or 15.6%. The plan also adds $1,639,699 in other financing uses where the prior actual column shows none.
The transfer-sized line is nearly as large as the payroll increase and explains much of the gap between operating growth and total growth. Schedule 9 does not say which fund receives it or what project it supports.
The financing burden changed more than the top line
The distinctive finding is that a one-third appropriation increase produces a still-larger rise in county-funded cost because external receipts do not keep pace. The adopted budget expects local resources to cover about three-quarters of the unit’s appropriations before reimbursements and balancing entries.
The table does not disclose assessment appeals, parcel counts, valuation workload, staffing vacancies or tax-roll accuracy. Those service measures would be needed to decide whether the added money improves performance.
Method and limitations
The newsroom compared the printed fiscal 2024–25 actual and fiscal 2025–26 adopted columns and recalculated all changes. Net county cost is reported here as a positive financing requirement rather than the schedule’s negative balancing notation.
Budget authority is not an expenditure. The new financing-use line may represent an internal fund transfer rather than a new external cost, and the summary schedule is not detailed enough to resolve that distinction.