County budget at a glance
Delaware County's 2026 General Fund Budget
The commissioners approved $163,467,461 for 2026 on November 24, 2025, up 8.1 percent from $151,191,135 in 2025. This page lays out the numbers office by office. For the interactive map, the trend since 2019, and what it means, see The County Budget.
Key numbers
General fund, 2026
$163.5M
Up 8.1% from 2025
Sales tax, estimated
$99.9M
About 61% of revenue
Property tax rollback
$7.07M
Half a mill, fifth straight year
Wages and benefits
$86.2M
52.8% of the budget
Where the money goes
Three budgets, the Commissioner-run departments, the Sheriff, and the Engineer, make up 77.7% of the total. The other 14 offices share the rest.
| Office | 2026 | Change |
|---|---|---|
| Commissioner-run departments | $51,371,520 | +3.8% |
| Sheriff | $43,379,782 | +8.1% |
| Engineer | $32,314,396 | +11.4% |
| Juvenile/Probate Court | $6,448,092 | +10.5% |
| Prosecutor | $4,803,445 | +11.1% |
| Board of Elections | $4,682,033 | +1.9% |
| Common Pleas Court | $4,004,935 | +13.7% |
| Veterans Service | $3,250,500 | +53% |
| Domestic Relations Court | $3,163,553 | +8.9% |
| Public Defender | $2,574,635 | +5.9% |
| Auditor | $2,472,803 | +9.3% |
| Clerk of Courts | $1,701,498 | +17.6% |
| Treasurer | $1,271,864 | +5.8% |
| Coroner | $751,725 | +2.6% |
| Recorder | $615,592 | +7.4% |
| Municipal Court | $611,088 | +3.2% |
| Court of Appeals | $50,000 | 0% |
| Total | $163,467,461 | +8.1% |
What grew from 2025 to 2026
The ten fastest-growing offices by percent. Every office's change is in the table above.
Veterans Service grew the most by percent (+53%). In dollars, the Sheriff (+$3.3M) and the Engineer (+$3.3M) together added $6.6M in one year. Public safety and roads are the services most directly stretched by a growing population.
Several courts grew faster than the budget as a whole: the Clerk of Courts (+17.6%), Common Pleas (+13.7%), and Juvenile/Probate (+10.5%). More residents means more cases.
Where the money comes from
Sales tax is the county's largest source of revenue. County staff estimated $99.9 million for 2026, about 61 percent of general fund revenue, when they presented the budget on November 17, 2025. That ties the budget to consumer spending: a slowdown in retail sales would reach the county's budget quickly.
On property taxes, the commissioners renewed their half-mill rollback on August 17, 2026, for the fifth straight year. It returns $7,069,025 to property owners for tax year 2026 (collected in 2027), on top of a separate 1-mill rollback in place since 2007.
Sources
2026 budget: adopted November 24, 2025 (Resolution 25-1007). County press release; Commissioners' Journal.
2025 budget: adopted November 25, 2024 (Resolution 24-975). County press release; Commissioners' Journal.
Rollback: Resolution 26-588, August 17, 2026. County release.
Sales tax: county staff's 2026 estimate, presented at the November 17, 2025 budget hearing. Wages and benefits: the budget's salaries ($61.25M) and benefits ($24.98M) lines, rounded by the source. All figures are adopted budgets, which differ from amended appropriations and actual spending.