$20,292,296investment income in 2025, against a budgeted $2,315,100
Investment income is the interest and gains the County earns on money it is not spending right away: savings, reserves and a long-term pot called the Legacy Fund. The County held $351,752,841 in investments at the end of 2025. The audited statements list the investment income the budget expected and what came in. For 2025 the budget was $2,315,100 and the result was $20,292,296. For 2024 the budget was $1,314,100 and the result was $19,493,523. For 2023 the result was $12,695,092. The County has explained part of this: it says short- and medium-term investments earned $32 million from 2015 to 2024 and the Legacy Fund earned nearly $35 million, which helped lower taxes and pay for road work and hospital support. The levy budget for 2026 also counts $7,408,800 under one line called "Financial Charges/Investment Income".
$49,576,693owed for closing landfills and removing asbestos at December 31, 2025, up from $28,610,727
When a landfill closes, the law says it has to be capped and watched for decades. The County books its best guess of that future cost as a debt called an asset retirement obligation. At December 31, 2025 that debt was $49,576,693, up from $28,610,727 a year earlier. The landfill part is Norfolk's share of closing two shared landfills, Tom Howe and Canborough, at $47,828,693 in today's dollars. The rest is $1,748,000 for asbestos in County buildings. The note says the 2025 change came from "changes in estimates" of $21,645,231, and that it was charged to environmental services spending. That is why environmental services spending was $51,717,157 against a budget of $31,619,330. The 2024 statements also carried a change of $9,198,366. The County has not set aside particular assets to pay for the work.
$9,678,220tax-supported operating surplus at the end of 2025 ($10,710,659 at the end of 2024)
The levy is the part of the budget paid for by property taxes. The County's own financial report says 2025 ended with an operating surplus of $9.7 million, or 7.1%, in tax-supported operations. The notes to the statements show an operating surplus of $9,678,220 at the end of 2025 and $10,710,659 at the end of 2024. The 2026 operating budget book shows that, when it was written in January 2026, 2025 was forecast to use $128,017,600 of a levy of $136,416,200. The adopted 2026 levy is $146,503,100, which is $10,086,900 more. The County says the average home sees a 5.5 per cent tax increase after growth and the education levy are counted. The County also explains what happens to a levy surplus: each year it is "contributed to" the contingency reserve for the levy.
$85,330,621principal protected notes held at December 31, 2025, against $29,978,132 a year earlier
A principal protected note is an investment that usually promises to give back the money put in if it is held to the end, while the extra return depends on how a market or index does. At December 31, 2024 the County carried $29,978,132 of these notes. At December 31, 2025 it carried $85,330,621. A line called "ONE Fund Investments" ($41,388,189 in 2024) is blank in 2025. The County says it reviewed the Legacy Fund strategy and "implemented new portfolio recommendations" with "additional principal protection". The auditor's letter says the County changed its accounting in 2025 to show these notes at market value instead of cost and did not apply the change to earlier years. The letter puts the effect at about $1,338,000 and says management found it too small to matter.