York County Press Release
YORK – The York County Commissioners held the final budget hearing for the 2026-27 fiscal year and also agreed to take extra money from the inheritance fund in order to keep the general fund levy the same as it was last year.
Only four people from the general public were present for the budget hearing.
“As we have said, this year’s budget is a little larger, due to a number of factors,” including higher costs, lower cash on hand which translates to lower interest revenue and the fact the county no longer has access to large amounts of federal dollars (like COVID-relief funds) which had been used in the past few years to offset expenses, explained York County Commissioner Daniel Grotz.
The only person from the public who spoke was Willard Peterson of Bradshaw who said, “All the counties in the state are in the same boat. And no one from the public cares, they just want you to spend less money, but you have to spend money. They want you to cut, cut, cut. It would be good to do more educating of the public as to how all this works because you have to fund services.”
Commissioner Randy Obermier noted how the budget committee – since the “pink postcard” meeting was held, had put in $500,000 from the inheritance fund into the budget to help offset expenses which otherwise would have to be paid for with property tax revenue.
“I think it is a sustainable figure, coming from inheritance. I think it is fine. It is up this board to decide – you can offset it by more but I’m not sure that would be sustainable. I think using some of it is prudent and that is what it is there for.
“The money is there and yes, that’s what it is used for, but the balance in the inheritance fund is getting to the lowest level I’ve seen since I’ve been on the board and we don’t want it to get much lower,” Grotz said. “But we have also seen the inheritance fund grow over the years and I don’t think we are hindering ourselves by using some of it. But the amount we are using – next year, I don’t know if we can do the same.”
Obermier also reminded the board how they had moved $1.6 million into the county’s reserves over the past few years.
“Randy, I agree with your thoughts on the $500,000,” Commissioner Andy Bowman said. “And in looking at our road department needs, I don’t think we will need to buy a motorgrader this year.”
They had originally budgeted $350,000 for the purchase, to come from the inheritance fund.
“I don’t think we should buy a piece of expensive equipment we don’t absolutely need,” Bowman said, as he is a commissioner liaison with the roads department. “And I would like to see a new strategy in how we buy or lease motorgraders, as we could be doing something more efficiently. I think we could eliminate that purchase this year, to reduce our budget growth. And a lot of that is due to our staffing problem – so why add a piece of equipment when some machines are just sitting there because there aren’t operators?”
“Skipping a year might not be a death sentence,” Obermier responded.
“Do I have confidence in the fleet we have now? Who knows, but it is the right thing to do, in my mind,” Bowman said.
“Regarding the budget, as a whole, we have done a lot with our wages and next year, well the raises might not be able to happen, we might have zero increases,” Obermier said. “I just want to see a path forward of sustainability.”
The commissioners agreed to take $350,000 out of the roads budget and nix the otherwise transfer. They also agreed to take $675,000 out of inheritance (the $500,000 mentioned earlier by Obermier and $175,000 for the purchase of two pieces of badly needed equipment for the roads department).
“That is right on the edge of sustainability,” Obermier said. “We just need to be aware of the circumstances we are in. It is a little more than I was comfortable with but it is still within the realm of possibilities.”
“This will save the taxpayers some money and it will keep the general fund levy flat,” Grotz said. “We supplemented with $675,000 from the inheritance fund instead of it coming from property tax. The general fund levy will stay the same as last year. This has been a long process and it has been a much more involved process than any I’ve been a part of in the past. We know costs have gone up for everything. I don’t know. It’s a hard pill to swallow but it takes money to provide the services we are statutorily required to do. We have to start thinking about next year – now. We can’t have the budget grow next year like it did this year. I don’t even know if I can vote for this budget but we have to have a budget and I think we’ve done a fairly good job. I just don’t think we can be in this position again next year. I do want to say I appreciate the attendance of the department heads and elected officials at the pink postcard meeting – it shows we are all in this together.”
“Yes, it was a tough budget this year, but we still have to provide services,” Obermier said.
The commissions approved the budget with Commissioner Deb Robertson thanking Obermier and Grotz (who sit on the budget committee) “for all the time and work you put into this process.”
“We have a budget now,” Grotz said. “But just because we have a budget doesn’t mean we need to run out and spend all the money we have the authority to spend. I encourage everyone to find savings anywhere we can.”
