ABC Method Applied To Public Budgeting

Search the FY27 Proposed Budget

Residents should not need a finance or analytics degree to understand what government is doing with the money it takes from them.

This dashboard starts with the source budget record, translates accounting language into public language, and clarifies five basic questions: what money is coming in, what money is going out, what money is being moved, what money is being set aside or used, and what the bottom line shows.

Analyze the Record

Identify the official sources, uses, fund allocations, and tie-out.

Build the Explanation

Connect source → fund → use plan → detail evidence without forcing false tie-outs.

Clarify the Standard

Mark what ties, what is missing, and what should be explainable before a vote.

Source: FY27 Proposed Budget. revised 5.15.26.pdf. For public readability, this dashboard displays budget amounts as positive dollar values while preserving the raw source signs in the dataset. Revenue appears as negative in the source accounting format.

A — Analyze the Record

Here is what the budget says.

These cards use the countywide Sources of Funds and Uses of Funds summary as the control total. This is the official claim layer: sources, uses, fund allocations, and the tie-out.

Total Sources

$1.55B

All money available for appropriation

Revenue Sources

$1.51B

Taxes, fees, permits, service charges, and revenue

Other Sources

$47.28M

Fund balance, transfers in, and other sources

Total Uses

$1.55B

All money planned to be used

Tie-Out Check

$0.00

sources and uses tie out

Follow the Money Check

Collected money, county money, passed-through money, and office budget are not the same thing.

This is the reconciliation layer. A smaller budget line does not always mean less money was collected. It may mean the money was passed through, split across funds, restricted, or reported under another label.

Public Source

Property Taxes

Public QuestionCan the public trace the full property-tax path?

Official all-funds source

$900.42M

Explanation

Open explanation

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Budget View

The official Sources of Funds summary reports Property Taxes as an all-funds source, then breaks that amount into fund allocations such as General Fund, Education Fund, and Debt Service Fund.

Public View

The General Fund portion may be visible in 40xx account-detail rows, while other fund portions may require separate schedules or detail support. The dashboard should show what ties and what does not yet have a visible detail trail.

What This Means

Residents experience property tax as one public collection stream. The budget should make clear how that stream is split across funds and which detail records support each part.

Question raised: Which property-tax fund allocations are directly traceable in the extracted detail, and which allocations still need a clearer public trail?

Public Source

County Clerk / Wheel Tax

Public QuestionWhy are collections larger than the office budget line?

Budget line found

$13.00M

Explanation

Open explanation

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Budget View

The proposed budget search finds County Clerk Fees as an operating-budget revenue line.

Public View

The County Clerk can collect far more than the office operating budget because money may be retained by the county, passed through to the State, used for debt service, or reported in another revenue flow.

What This Means

A small operating-budget line does not mean the office collected only that amount. Collected money, county-retained money, passed-through money, and office operating money are different views.

Question raised: Where are wheel tax, state share, debt service, and retained county portions reported across the receipts and budget views?

Public Source

Trustee / Banking Flow

Public QuestionWhere does collected money go after it is received?

Trustee-related budget lines

$27.36M

Explanation

Open explanation

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Budget View

The budget includes Trustee-related revenue lines, but those lines are not the same as every dollar the Trustee receives, apportions, or disburses.

Public View

Some revenue may be collected by one office, reported by another, then distributed to the State, schools, debt service, another fund, or a restricted purpose.

What This Means

The public needs the path of the money, not just the account label.

Question raised: Which receipts are collected locally, kept by the county, passed through, or budgeted somewhere else?

B — Build the Explanation

Connect the official claim to the fund path, use plan, and detail evidence.

Select a source or use category to inspect the official amount, the fund allocation from Pages 9–12, and any account-detail evidence that has a confirmed rule.

Official summary category

Source of Funds · Source page 9

Property Taxes

Property tax is split across General Fund, Education Fund, and Debt Service Fund. The General Fund line alone is not the full property-tax picture.

Detail rule: 40xx account family

FY27 Official Total

$900,422,219

FY26: $880,175,419

Selected Detail Rows

2

Detail FY27 Display

$407,505,421

Difference vs Official

-$492,916,798

Fund Allocation

Pages 9–12 fund split → click a fund to see the use plan

The official summary controls the top number. Fund cards show the Pages 9–12 allocation path; detail rows appear only when a confirmed account-prefix rule exists.

C — Clarify the Standard

What can the public verify from this record?

Account-detail evidence is limited to the confirmed 40xx account-family rule. The official summary remains the control total; detail rows are evidence, not a substitute for the official tie-out.

Transfer Trace Check

Can the public see both sides of the transfer activity?

96xx rows show visible transfer-in activity. 98xx rows show visible transfer-out activity. This section does not assume how the county internally accounts for those movements. It only shows whether the extracted budget detail gives the public a clear trail.

Visible 96xx In

$325,000

FY26 was $35,683,390

Visible 98xx Out

$29,856,629

FY26 was $40,223,712

Visible Gap

$29,531,629

98xx out minus 96xx in

A gap here does not mean money disappeared. It means the extracted detail does not show a complete transfer trail. The public question is whether the source budget clearly explains both sides of the movement.+ Open detail

This groups visible 96xx and 98xx movement rows by division and fund/office. It shows where transfer activity appears in the extracted detail without assigning a destination that the source data does not state.

Administration & Finance · General Fund

14 transfer row(s)

FY27

$26,236,933

FY26

$54,190,886

+

Page	Account	Description	FY25	FY26	FY27
23	9611	Transfer From Roads & Bridges Fund	$0	$0	$0
23	9618	Transfer from Data Processing Fund	$0	$0	$0
23	9656	Transfer From Group Health Insur Fund	$78,946	$71,218	$0
23	9691	Transfer from Education Fund	$0	$0	$0
23	9699	Transfer To/From Within CAFR Fund	$0	$17,515,652	$0
23	9813	Transfer To Other Special Revenue Funds	$381,568	$1,161,067	$1,311,846
23	9826	Transfer To Grants Fund	$2,280,857	$0	$421,346
23	9848	Transfer To Consol Codes Enforc Fund	$1,500,000	$1,500,000	$710,158
23	9852	Transfer To Tort Liability Fund	$3,919,044	$600,000	$0
23	9860	Transfer to Central Services Fund	$0	$1,342,949	$503,444
24	9874	Transfer To Corrections Center Fund	$29,937,654	$30,000,000	$23,290,139
24	9875	Transfer To Economic Devel Fund	$180,580	$0	$0
24	9890	Transfer to Education Fund	$4,571,086	$0	$0
24	9891	Transfer to Pre-K Fund	$0	$2,000,000	$0

Health Services · General Fund

4 transfer row(s)

FY27

$2,927,003

FY26

$8,992,003

+

Page	Account	Description	FY25	FY26	FY27
62	9626	Transfer From Grant Funds	$0	$0	$0
62	9656	Transfer From Group Health Insur Fund	$233,947	$325,000	$325,000
62	9699	Transfer To/From Within CAFR Fund	$0	$6,065,000	$0
62	9826	Transfer To Grants Fund	$2,300,605	$2,602,003	$2,602,003

Judicial · Juvenile Court Clerk

1 transfer row(s)

FY27

$750,895

FY26

$750,895

+

Page	Account	Description	FY25	FY26	FY27
104	9826	Transfer To Grants Fund	$617,357	$750,895	$750,895

Summary - Fund · Sheriff

2 transfer row(s)

FY27

$146,798

FY26

$247,098

+

Page	Account	Description	FY25	FY26	FY27
79	9699	Transfer To/From Within CAFR Fund	$0	$100,300	$0
79	9826	Transfer To Grants Fund	$69,186	$146,798	$146,798

Planning & Development · General Fund

1 transfer row(s)

FY27

$70,000

FY26

$70,000

+

Page	Account	Description	FY25	FY26	FY27
37	9826	Transfer To Grants Fund	$22,398	$70,000	$70,000

Public Works · General Fund

2 transfer row(s)

FY27

$50,000

FY26

$78,063

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Page	Account	Description	FY25	FY26	FY27
45	9699	Transfer To/From Within CAFR Fund	$0	$28,063	$0
45	9826	Transfer To Grants Fund	$50,000	$50,000	$50,000

Corrections · Youth Justice and Edu Ctr

1 transfer row(s)

FY27

$0

FY26

$11,128,434

+

Page	Account	Description	FY25	FY26	FY27
53	9699	Transfer To/From Within CAFR Fund	$0	$11,128,434	$0

Other Elected Officials · Gen Fund Trustee

1 transfer row(s)

FY27

$0

FY26

$139,539

+

Page	Account	Description	FY25	FY26	FY27
135	9699	Transfer To/From Within CAFR Fund	$0	$139,539	$0

Community Services · General Fund

1 transfer row(s)

FY27

$0

FY26

$120,000

+

Page	Account	Description	FY25	FY26	FY27
68	9699	Transfer To/From Within CAFR Fund	$0	$120,000	$0

Judicial · Juvenile Court Judge

1 transfer row(s)

FY27

$0

FY26

$91,584

+

Page	Account	Description	FY25	FY26	FY27
101	9699	Transfer To/From Within CAFR Fund	$0	$91,584	$0

Information Technology Services · General Fund

2 transfer row(s)

FY27

$0

FY26

$54,600

+

Page	Account	Description	FY25	FY26	FY27
30	9699	Transfer To/From Within CAFR Fund	$0	$54,600	$0
30	9860	Transfer to Central Services Fund	$0	$0	$0

Other Elected Officials · County Clerk

1 transfer row(s)

FY27

$0

FY26

$38,400

+

Page	Account	Description	FY25	FY26	FY27
127	9699	Transfer To/From Within CAFR Fund	$0	$38,400	$0

Follow the Money Check does not accuse the source data of being wrong. It shows where public revenue may be collected, retained, passed through, split across funds, or budgeted under a different label.

Public View Filters

Filter the account detail rows using plain-language categories.

Detail Rows

2

Account detail only

FY27 Displayed Amount

$407,505,421

Signs normalized

FY25 → FY27 Difference

+$65,943,711 (19.3%)

FY27 budget compared with FY25 actuals

Selected View

All

All public categories

Account Detail Search Results

Showing 2 of 2 matching account detail rows.

Click column headers to sort

Category↕	Page	Division↕	Fund / Office↕	Account↕	FY25Actual ↕	FY26Budget ↕	FY27Proposed ↓	Δ FYB26→ FYP27 ↕	Δ FYA25→ FYP27 ↕
$$$ In	17	Administration & Finance	General Fund	4001 Property Taxes-Current	$334,650,497	$382,542,988	$399,585,420	+$17,042,432	+$64,934,923
$$$ In	17	Administration & Finance	General Fund	4002 Property Taxes-Delinquent	$6,911,213	$7,023,373	$7,920,001	+$896,628	+$1,008,788

Money Coming In

Page 17

Property Taxes-Current

Administration & Finance · General Fund

FY25

$334,650,497

FY26

$382,542,988

FY27

$399,585,420

FY26 → FY27: +$17,042,432

FY25 Actual → FY27 Budget: +$64,934,923

Money Coming In

Page 17

Property Taxes-Delinquent

Administration & Finance · General Fund

FY25

$6,911,213

FY26

$7,023,373

FY27

$7,920,001

FY26 → FY27: +$896,628

FY25 Actual → FY27 Budget: +$1,008,788

This page combines the official operating-budget Sources and Uses summary with extracted five-year trend detail. It is intended as a public review tool, not a substitute for the official adopted budget or later amendments. The table shows account detail rows only; official summary totals control the tie-out above.