Overview
Ottawa County — not to be confused with the City of Ottawa, which is the seat of Franklin County and a different government with its own dashboard — took in more than it spent in 2025: receipts of $13,255,379 against expenditures of $12,486,677, lifting unencumbered cash from $9,182,974 to $9,951,676 (ending cash $10,165,378 after $213,702 of encumbrances and payables). The General Fund spent $2,865,204 against receipts of $2,944,730, ending at $2,019,408 unencumbered. Road and Bridge remains the county's largest single fund at $3,235,080 of spending, and the county added three 2025 dump trucks on finance leases ($1,118,913) during the year.
Source: Ottawa County financial statement 2025 (state portal, PDF).
At a glance — audited actuals, year ended December 31, 2025
Source: Ottawa County financial statement 2025, Summary Statement.
General Fund walk — audited actuals 2025
Receipts of $2,944,730 against expenditures of $2,865,204 give a $79,526 surplus; the $1,939,882 beginning balance rises to $2,019,408 unencumbered ($2,042,865 after $23,457 of encumbrances and payables). Spending ran $1,064,863 under the $3,930,067 certified budget, mostly a $754,657 unspent "Other" budget line.
| Receipts | Amount |
|---|---|
| Taxes (ad valorem $1,583,531; delinquent $48,183; motor vehicle $160,590; recreational vehicle $4,047; 16/20M $15,212; commercial vehicle $5,501; interest and charges on delinquent taxes $63,494; county-wide sales tax $450,425) | $2,330,983 |
| Licenses and fees (officers' fees $64,375; other licenses and fees $2,655) | $67,030 |
| Use of money (interest on investments) | $518,317 |
| Other (diversionary agreement $3,536; other $14,693; transfer from Special Vehicle Fund $10,171) | $28,400 |
| Total receipts (detail-summed) | $2,944,730 |
Expenditure departments as printed (actual): County Attorney $131,823; County Clerk $104,818; County Commissioners $90,231; Courthouse $308,043; Register of Deeds $76,924; Election $1,225; County Treasurer $102,703; Emergency Management $55,661; Computer Processing $131,354; Clerk of District Court $64,013; Human Resources $49,235; County Counselor $13,611; Zoning $4,458; Appropriations $1,731,707; Other $13,009. One structural note: the schedule shows prior-year sheriff spending inside the General Fund ($962,083 in 2024) and a separate Sheriff fund in 2025 ($1,352,305 in, $1,289,566 out, $103,033 ending), so the General Fund's year-over-year comparison is not like-for-like on sheriff spending.
Source: Ottawa County financial statement 2025, Schedule 2-1 (General Fund).
Major funds — audited actuals 2025
| Fund | Receipts | Expenditures | Ending cash |
|---|---|---|---|
| General | $2,944,730 | $2,865,204 | $2,042,865 |
| Road and Bridge | $3,141,236 | $3,235,080 | $755,227 |
| Special Bridge | $205,747 | $44,798 | $1,152,225 |
| Employee Benefits | $2,179,278 | $1,659,809 | $1,621,528 |
| Sheriff | $1,352,305 | $1,289,566 | $103,033 |
| Special County Machinery | $473,500 | $369,177 | $689,535 |
| County Capital Outlay Reserve | $114,000 | $107,158 | $948,941 |
| Special Highway Improvement Reserve | $0 | $0 | $540,841 |
| Special Vehicle | $677,767 | $681,305 | $6,632 |
| Law Enforcement Center Capital Outlay | $91,302 | $102,796 | $420,192 |
| Services for Aging | $195,548 | $188,499 | $321,675 |
| Noxious Weed | $241,374 | $184,254 | $149,736 |
| County Health | $219,866 | $272,360 | $92,496 |
| Solid Waste | $426,157 | $498,181 | $117,134 |
| Hospital Debt Service | $303,803 | $328,480 | $31,302 |
| Total reporting entity (all funds) | $13,255,379 | $12,486,677 | $10,165,378 |
The table shows the major funds only; the statement's full fund list also includes election, building, appraiser, 911, technology, diversion, and trust funds, all included in the entity totals. Total cash per the composition of cash is $23,196,102 less $13,030,724 of agency funds, equaling the $10,165,378 reporting-entity total.
Source: Ottawa County financial statement 2025, Summary Statement.
Debt
Long-term debt ended at $4,532,193: general obligation bonds $3,030,000 (Series 2018 jail improvement $250,000, down from $275,000; Series 2021 hospital refunding $2,780,000, down from $3,060,000) plus finance leases $1,502,193. The lease balance more than doubled during the year: it began at $649,176, added three 2025 dump trucks at $1,118,913, and paid $265,896. Older motor-grader and excavator leases were paid off in full. Interest paid in 2025 was $82,747 ($59,105 on bonds, $23,642 on leases).
Source: Ottawa County financial statement 2025, Notes (long-term debt).
Sources & notes
- Only source used: Ottawa County financial statement with independent auditors' report, year ended December 31, 2025 (Hutchinson, Kansas; June 17, 2026; unmodified opinion on the Kansas regulatory basis, adverse opinion on U.S. GAAP — the firm name is a logo in the document and does not appear in its text layer, so it is not named here), via the Kansas Department of Administration state portal. Read the audit (PDF).
- Sum checks: $9,182,974 + $13,255,379 − $12,486,677 = $9,951,676 and + $213,702 = $10,165,378; General Fund receipts components sum to $2,944,730, and $1,939,882 + $2,944,730 − $2,865,204 = $2,019,408; debt $3,030,000 + $1,502,193 = $4,532,193 and leases $649,176 + $1,118,913 − $265,896 = $1,502,193; cash $23,196,102 − $13,030,724 = $10,165,378. All verified by addition.
- Discrepancy disclosed, not smoothed: the General Fund schedule's printed department lines sum to $2,878,815, which is $13,611 above the printed expenditure total of $2,865,204 — exactly the County Counselor line ($13,611). The Counselor amount appears to be included inside another printed category, so this page uses the printed $2,865,204 total and lists the departments as printed.
- County palette: no verified Ottawa County palette was on file, so this page uses the neutral Hometown Numbers dark-glass theme rather than a county color.