Expenses for Clark County government are rising to meet the needs of a growing population, but revenues aren’t, so county councilors expect to make some tough choices as they set the 2026 budget.

They kicked off the process with a work session Tuesday.

“As you’ve heard for many years, we are in a structural deficit with the general fund, which simply means our ongoing expenses are exceeding our ongoing revenues,” County Manager Kathleen Otto told the council.

To help prioritize the county’s limited resources, Otto said the council directed staff to distinguish between new mandated services and funding needs from nonmandated requests or general critical needs requests.

General fund revenues account for only a portion of the county’s total revenues. The 2025 budget put total general fund

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