photo by: Josie Heimsoth/Journal-World

Douglas County commissioners met for their business meeting on Wednesday, Oct. 8, 2025.

Douglas County commissioners have approved the county’s financial statements for 2024, and the county administrator said there is no timeline for discussions on the county’s fund balance policy.

On Wednesday, commissioners approved the 2024 audit report 4-0 vote with Commissioner Gene Dorsey absent. The auditors from Allen, Gibbs & Houlik LC who conducted the audit for Douglas County reported no major issues or unusual transactions.

As the Journal-World reported, the county began the 2024 fiscal year with an unencumbered cash balance of $131,988,631 and ended the year with $145,867,339, according to the audit report. The money is the amount of cash on hand that is not committed to be spent on a specific project.

There are several funds in the 2024 financial statements that violate the county’s fund balance policy, which says budgeted accounts shall not have fund balances greater than 25% of the account’s total revenue. For example, the employee benefits fund exceeds the policy limit by nearly $4.2 million, while the road and bridge fund has $752,291 more than what the policy allows. Some other funds are in compliance with the policy, such as the general fund.

County Administrator Sarah Plinsky and commissioners have previously indicated plans to review the fund balance policy for potential revisions. But during Wednesday’s meeting, neither the commissioners nor county staff discussed the policy. Plinsky told the Journal-World on Wednesday that there had been no updates or timeline set for when those discussions might occur.

A few adjustments were recommended by the auditors, and these included correcting beginning unencumbered cash balances to align with the prior year’s report and an adjustment to accounts payable in the employee benefits trust and workers’ compensation funds for estimated claims incurred but not yet paid, resulting in a decrease to fund balance of $225,309. Additionally, another adjustment was made to accounts payable to record a liability owed at year-end, decreasing the fund balance by $2,058,339.

Tara Laughlin, a vice president at Allen, Gibbs & Houlik LC, said there are usually one or two things like this because it was an expense paid after year-end for 2024, and she said the $2,058,339 was likely for a capital project.

Plinsky told the Journal-World that the county typically begins its audit process at the beginning of the year and concludes in the fall. She said that the auditors generally come in April and have their report by the end of October, but that the timeline varies from year to year.

“Sometimes we’re done in late August if we’re really fast, and sometimes it’s towards the middle of October,” she said.

Plinsky said the audit process for the county is different than that of the City of Lawrence, which completes its yearly audit before beginning the budget process. She said that’s because the city uses a different set of accounting principles than the county.

In other business, county commissioners:

• Approved changes to the county’s property tax rebate program for 2026, as recommended by staff. In October 2024, the County Commission voted to implement the pilot program and provide targeted property tax relief to low-income seniors and disabled veterans in Douglas County.

There were 135 applications received and 109 of those applications were eligible for a rebate, according to a memo in the commission’s meeting agenda. The maximum a resident could receive in a rebate was $300, and the average rebate was $281. A total of $30,905 was rebated to taxpayers. This equated to a 37% rebate on the county’s portion of property tax and a 13% rebate of the total property tax homeowners paid.

Since this was the first year of the program, staff recommended adjustments. One of the changes includes changing the maximum rebate to $400 per household, meaning there is enough funding for at least 1,172 rebates if the maximum is increased from $300 to $400.

• Authorized the Public Works director to solicit bids for a mill and overlay project to add depth to existing pavement where it’s needed on Route 5, from Route 1039 to Route 442, which will cover 10.5 miles.

• Approved a resolution establishing a 35 mph speed limit on East 1900 Road – from North 100 Road to North 200 Road – in Palmyra Township. A memo in the agenda said the current speed limit is 45 mph and residents have raised concerns about high traffic volume, dust and vehicle speeds.