The Clark County Council adopted its 2026 budget on Tuesday, Dec. 2, approving an $883 million expense plan built on $735 million in revenue and $149 million in fund balance.
The council also voted to take the full 1 percent property tax levy increase, along with all available banked capacity across its major taxing districts.
County staff have emphasized efforts to slow a growing deficit. The county has skipped the 1 percent increase in seven of the last 14 years, leaving an estimated $42.6 million in unrealized revenue for the General Fund between 2012 and 2025.
“There has been very limited growth, especially in general funds,” County Manager Kathleen Otto said.
The budget outlook shows a roughly $14 million deficit next year and a projected negative beginning fund balance by 2030 if the trend continues. By 2027, the county’s unassigned balance for the future budget requests will be just under $13 million in the hole.
During a November workshop, Otto pushed the council to use every available tool to stabilize the budget.
The adopted amendments include Otto’s recommendations and several councilor proposals. The combination of additionally-approved 1 percent levies with banked capacity are expected to generate about $1.47 million for the general fund, $953,518 for the road fund, $475,002 for conservation futures and $116,430 for the parks district.
“The banked capacity [and] 1% [increase] is not enough to cover the cost increase to the county, just for our insurance policy and for the sales tax increases that came down from the state,” County Councilor Glen Yung noted regarding the general fund. “Even with this additional revenue, it's not enough to cover even those two little things in the entirety of our budget.”
After the vote, Council Chair Sue Marshall praised the staff and councilors for their time.
"I want to recognize all the hard work from the budget office, county manager, department heads, and county elected officials. This has been a long, hard process. I’d like to thank all of the councilors too, for their diligence in working on this budget," she said.
A county budget news release published last week noted staff will continue to understand the underlying causes of the deficit and will work to develop long-term solutions.
Editor's note: This story was updated to correctly attribute a quote from County Councilor Glen Yung.
