County Budget
Exploring Summit’s Budget
The 2023 General Fund comprises the majority of Summit County Government's spending.
It is prescribed under State law as the fund created to consist of all revenue except revenue specifically allocated by law for other purposes.
Essentially, the County provides services that the state or cities don’t, and in many areas, the County provides municipal-type services for people who don’t reside in cities (or in the unincorporated areas of the county), like roads and law enforcement.
You can access the entire 2023 Summit County Budget document on the Finance Department page.
Revenues
General fund revenues are derived from a variety of sources including property, sales and other taxes, fees charged for services and grant revenue.
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Revenue Highlights
Property taxes comprise the largest funding source accounting for nearly 38% of general fund revenues. Property tax revenues collected in 2023 are budgeted to remain relatively flat to 2022, as the 2023 reappraisal values and associated taxes are not collected until 2024.
An additional $0.6M of general fund property tax revenues were allocated to the Library Fund in 2023 supporting library operations and yielding a commensurate decrease in general fund property tax revenues.
Expenses
The 2023 budget shows the Board of County Commissioners' commitment to meeting the diverse needs of our community. The budget is primarily focused on investments in affordable housing, childcare facilities, capital projects, public safety and Summit County staff.
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Expense Highlights
Over 25% of the budget is devoted to public safety, which includes the County Jail, Personnel, and Search and Rescue
Nearly 20% of the budget is for Strong Future Programs which includes wildfire prevention, open space, behavioral health, recycling, childcare, public facilities.
What’s Strong Future?
Strong Future was a ballot initiative passed by Summit County voters in 2018. The ballot initiative asked voters to support property taxes dedicated to community needs that were otherwise unfunded. Like other funding questions that have been passed by the County, Strong Future mandates the county allocate these funds. Summit County Government distributes these funds as directed by an advisory committee that was established per the ballot.
Our Budget Process
During the fall, the Summit County Government holds public meetings and develops its budgets for the coming year. Expenses and revenue are projected, and the budgets are approved at hearings that are open to the public and comments are welcomed. The mill levy is set as part of the budget process. The County also invites member of the public to participate in a budget advisory board, which makes recommendations during this process.
Tabor (Taxpayer Bill of Rights)
In 2020, Summit County voters authorized to maintain existing County services, including those recently approved by local voters, by adjusting its mill levies for the sole purpose of sustaining services that will otherwise be lost due to state-imposed changes in the method of calculating assessed valuation, such as changes in statewide property tax assessment rates.
To read more about the County budget, including our 2023 budget and the upcoming 2024 budget, visit the Finance Department page.