Overview
Douglas County adopted a 2026 budget of $184,059,433 in total budget authority, supported by $89,889,665 in 2025 ad valorem tax. After removing $19,059,592 in transfers, net expenditure is $164,999,841. The General Fund dominates at $108,297,249 - 59% of the whole budget. The estimated total levy of 40.669 mills sits above the revenue neutral rate of 38.958 mills, and the hearing was held to exceed that rate. Seven cemetery districts are budgeted separately at $365,805 in authority and $103,686 in ad valorem tax. Assessed valuation for the 2026 budget year is $2,210,274,794.
Source: Douglas County 2026 adopted budget, budget summary and General Fund pages.
At a glance
Source: Douglas County 2026 adopted budget, budget summary and General Fund pages.
All funds - 2026 adopted
The ad valorem column sums exactly to the printed total. The authority column as extracted sums to $183,747,616, which is $311,817 short of the printed $184,059,433 total - exactly the Special Alcohol figure printed on the same budget-summary page (its 2026 column is blank in the extraction, so it is not assigned here). The printed total is used above; the gap is disclosed, not smoothed over.
| Fund | Budget authority | 2025 ad valorem tax |
|---|---|---|
| General | $108,297,249 | $70,888,996 |
| Debt Service | $688,523 | — |
| Road & Bridge | $10,248,554 | $6,093,625 |
| Employee Benefits | $20,342,074 | $12,907,044 |
| Emergency Telephone | $900,745 | — |
| Motor Vehicle Operations | $962,890 | — |
| Special Parks & Recreation | $362,243 | — |
| Local County Sales Tax | $8,986,249 | — |
| MH Services Sales Tax | $32,437,679 | — |
| Municipalities Fight Addiction | $521,410 | — |
| Total | $184,059,433 | $89,889,665 |
Source: Douglas County 2026 adopted budget, budget summary and General Fund pages.
General Fund
The General Fund's 2026 authority of $108,297,249 is its department subtotal of $93,599,086 plus a $14,698,163 cash reserve. The fund's tax requirement is $69,471,217, with a $4,738,651 non-appropriated balance bringing total expenditure and non-appropriated balance to $113,035,900. Budgeted receipts other than ad valorem tax total $23,043,970, and with a beginning balance of $20,520,713, resources available are $43,564,683. The three largest lines - Sheriff Jail, transfers out, and Sheriff Operations - together total $34,294,949, about 37% of the department subtotal.
General Fund expenditures by department - 2026 (subtotal; plus $14,698,163 cash reserve = $108,297,249)
| Item | Amount |
|---|---|
| Administration | $3,163,066 |
| Administration - Criminal Justice Coordinating Council | $302,098 |
| Administration - Housing & Human Services | $499,944 |
| Appraiser | $1,423,777 |
| CIP Projects | $5,377,380 |
| Commissioners | $3,151,667 |
| Community Partners | $6,006,181 |
| Coroner | $312,500 |
| County Clerk | $834,264 |
| County Clerk - Elections | $1,146,446 |
| Countywide | $1,405,450 |
| Court Trustee | $507,262 |
| Criminal Justice Services | $3,835,325 |
| District Attorney | $3,835,371 |
| District Court Operations | $2,055,735 |
| Emergency Communication Center | $1,438,116 |
| Emergency Management | $441,251 |
| Fairgrounds | $174,000 |
| First Responders | $90,750 |
| Fleet Operations | $1,827,875 |
| Heritage Conservation | $333,810 |
| Information Technology | $3,527,289 |
| Maintenance | $2,227,215 |
| Parks & Vegetation | $917,128 |
| Recycling & Hazardous Waste | $130,000 |
| Register of Deeds | $608,099 |
| Senior Resources | $841,280 |
| Shared Costs | $9,340,085 |
| Sheriff Jail | $12,621,297 |
| Sheriff Operations | $9,795,962 |
| Sustainability Management | $391,935 |
| Transfers Out | $11,877,690 |
| Treasurer | $835,258 |
| Utilities | $1,527,000 |
| Utility Building Maintenance | $40,000 |
| Zoning & Building Codes | $756,580 |
| Total | $93,599,086 |
Source: Douglas County 2026 adopted budget, budget summary and General Fund pages.
Debt
As of January 1, 2025, total indebtedness was $72,585,000, all general obligation bonds; there are no revenue bonds, other debt, or lease-purchase principal outstanding. The bonds are: Series 2008 N 600 Road Improvement ($80,000, due 2028); Series 2009A SE Lawrence Sanitary Sewer ($1,025,000, due 2030); Series 2012E Yankee Tank CID ($80,000, due 2032); Series 2020B local sales tax ($9,370,000, due 2033); Series 2025A ($55,000,000, issued June 11, 2025, due 2045); and Series 2020A mental health sales tax ($7,030,000, due 2040). Amounts due in 2026 are $2,585,000 in principal and $3,470,173 in interest - the Series 2025A bonds alone account for $1,030,000 of principal and $3,150,279 of interest.
Source: Douglas County 2026 adopted budget, budget summary and General Fund pages.
Sources & notes
- Only source used: Douglas County, Kansas, 2026 adopted budget (State of Kansas county budget form, including the budget summary and hearing notice). Read the budget (PDF).
- Sum checks: the ad valorem column, the General Fund department subtotal plus cash reserve, the General Fund tax requirement plus non-appropriated balance, the debt components and their 2026 principal and interest, and net expenditure (authority minus transfers) all reconcile exactly to their printed totals. The one exception is disclosed above: the extracted fund rows fall $311,817 short of the printed authority total.
- What is missing: no audit or 2025/2026 actuals are used - the comparison figures are the budget form's own columns. The county's non-budgeted funds carry no 2026 authority in this summary.
- County palette: no verified Douglas County palette was on file, so this page uses the neutral Hometown Numbers dark-glass theme rather than a county color.