Teton County Clerk Maureen Murphy told commissioners April 7 the county will begin fiscal year 2026 budget meetings next week and that the requested budget, excluding courthouse relocation costs, was about $23,600,000 over projected revenues; after staff recommendations and discussions with the town and county administrator, Murphy said the figure had been reduced to “probably about 15.”

Murphy said she would distribute updated budget summaries and OpenGov links to commissioners and that staff will present operations changes, the capital spreadsheet and full-time employee requests. Commissioners raised several immediate concerns about revenue uncertainty for the coming year.

Commissioner Probst expressed particular concern about possible sales-tax declines this summer and urged the board to seek regular updates from the chamber and travel-and-tourism partners on hotel occupancy and other indicators. Murphy said sales-tax projections were conservative and that the assessor’s ongoing work on values and exemptions could materially affect property-tax receipts. Murphy noted that one change in property-tax policy this year reduces assessments by 25% for both land and improvements in some cases, and about 900 property owners had taken a 50% exemption; she said the final revenue picture could change by 10–20% and hoped for greater certainty soon.

Commissioners also discussed an item raised by Commissioner Carlman: travel-and-tourism funding that supports Friends of the Bridger-Teton and ambassador services. Carlman urged the board to consider whether the lodging-tax-funded program needs an increased allocation, saying the organization’s on-the-ground stewardship work is important given federal land-management staffing uncertainty. Commissioner Gardner and others suggested engaging the lodging-tax board and the town ahead of joint budget meetings and recommended early, informal conversations so county concerns could be considered before the lodging-tax board finalizes its budget.

Murphy said joint budget meetings will begin the following week and that county staff will schedule presentations from Health and Human Services and Community Development programs by request. Commissioners instructed staff to provide revenue breakdowns and additional detail so the board can evaluate where external requests for increased funding might fit in light of overall budget constraints.