photo by: Journal-World

The west side of the Douglas County Courthouse, 1100 Massachusetts St.

The Douglas County Commission could take the next step in finalizing the county’s operating budget for 2023 this week.

Earlier this month, the commission completed its budget deliberation process, electing to lower the county’s proposed mill levy by about one mill. At its meeting on Wednesday, the commission will review the revised approximately $163.7 million budget once more. Then, county leaders will decide whether to authorize staff to notify Douglas County Clerk Jamie Shew of their intent to exceed the established “revenue neutral rate,” then publish the 2023 budget and a revenue neutral rate hearing notice.

When a governing body plans to exceed its revenue neutral rate, it means that it plans on taking in more property tax revenue than during the previous tax year. That squares with a historic increase in the county’s tax base by about 12.44% over the last year.

The county has already announced that the budget will be adopted during a public hearing Aug. 27 that will be held during the commission’s regular meeting.

The budget decision worksheet that county staff compiled based on each commissioner’s preferences for additional funding requests is included with this week’s meeting agenda materials. During three days of budget hearings starting July 5, commissioners reviewed nearly 50 funding requests totaling $3.8 million from Douglas County departments and community partners.

Ultimately, that meant funding only a fraction of those requests. County departments and services tentatively account for around $790,000 in funding not included with the first version of the proposed budget. Some of that funding will help to fund new hires, such as a self-help center director for the Douglas County District Court and additional officers for the Douglas County Sheriff’s Office. Other line items sustain funding for affordable housing programs like the Housing Stabilization Collaborative.

Six community partners, meanwhile, are tentatively set to receive around $400,000 in additional funding for their requests combined. That includes $50,000 to support a landlord incentive program through the Lawrence-Douglas County Housing Authority and $100,000 to support truancy prevention programming for elementary and middle school students through the Center for Supportive Communities.

Wednesday’s business meeting will begin at 5:30 p.m. at the Douglas County Courthouse, 1100 Massachusetts St. The meeting will also be available by Zoom. For meeting information, visit the county’s website: dgcoks.org/commissionmeetings.