Teton County accepts $82.8 million budget

Commissioners have approved 48 new employees in the last 3 years.

By Charley Sutherland

GOVERNMENT REPORTER

Teton County has added 48 fulltime employees and $4.4 million to the county budget over the last three years.

Adding 48 “new employees over three years is a big jump,” County Clerk Maureen Murphy said. Salaries for new positions are a “recurring cost,” meaning that once the county adds a position, it has to pay the new employee a salary every year, she said.

The new employees and statewide property tax cuts, which require the county to pay more for joint town and county departments, have strained Teton County’s budget this year.

The county board approved a $82.8 million general fund budget Tuesday, after a Monday meeting to hold public comment. Nobody spoke.

Commissioners approved the budget with a $4.5 million deficit.

The county’s proposed non-general fund budget, which includes special revenue and capital funds for fiscal year 2026, is $138.2 million, meaning the county plans to spend a total of $221 million this fiscal year.

Earlier this month, elected officials supported raising county property taxes to make up the deficit. The county levies 6.879 mills of the 12 it can levy legally.

One mill is a $1 tax per $1,000 of assessed value. A one-mill increase to property taxes would nearly, but not entirely, make up the deficit.

Commissioners don’t have to finalize the county tax rate until August.

Last year, county commissioners approved a similar $82 million general fund budget and a $147 million total budget, including special revenue and capital funds. Two years ago, the county’s total budget was $208 million.

County staffers have spent months cutting spending and have made deep cuts resulting in a “bare bones” budget, Commissioner Len Carlman said. That has included cuts to outof- state travel and employee trainings. Originally, the county faced a $23 million deficit, which it reduced significantly, Murphy said.

More people

As the town and county expanded the Teton County/Jackson Community Recreation Center and increased firefighting operations, the two local governments have needed more workers, Murphy said.

Of the 48 new employees, nine work for Jackson Hole Fire/EMS and 17 work for the Parks and Recreation Department. In fiscal year 2023, the county added 17 new employees. In fiscal year 2024, the county added 27 new employees, and in 2025, it added four new employees.

The county does not just hire more workers willy-nilly, Board of County Commissioners Administrator Jodie Pond said. When department directors decide they need additional staff, they enter a more than yearlong process to justify the hire, Pond said.

The highest-paid new employee is the Sheriff’s Department’s helicopter pilot and director of operations, who makes $226,908 a year, with benefits.

More pay

The county is paying its workers more than in previous years and increasing salaries by a higher rate.

Since last year, employees received a 6% pay increase — a 2.5% cost of living adjustment and a 3.5% merit increase that goes into effect July 1.

That pay hike accounts for $1.2 million of the budget increase this year, Murphy said.

Contact Charley Sutherland at 307-7327066 or county@jhnewsandguide.com.