Stark County commissioners approved several budget items and community contributions during their Oct. 9 meeting, including increases for local service providers and one-time allocations to emergency services and community nonprofits.

The actions formalize support the county will provide in 2026 for ambulance services, domestic-violence providers and other community groups and set aside funds for the county fair. The decisions follow staff presentations and requests documented in the commission packet.

Commissioners voted to allocate $500,000 to Dickinson Ambulance, $240,000 to Belfield ambulance service and $10,000 to Richardson-Taylor ambulance service. The board also approved increasing contributions for domestic-violence services to $50,000 and the Family Connection Center (supervised visitation) to $50,000. Community Action received $25,000; Best Friends Mentoring received $20,000; and Vision West membership was funded at $1,600.

On the fair and parks question, after debate about oversight and reporting, commissioners agreed to fund the Stark County Fair Association at $125,000 rather than an originally proposed $250,000. Commissioners said they want more transparency from the fair association about how funds are spent and signaled they will seek additional detail at follow-up meetings.

Not every request passed unchanged: a proposed $250,000 county contribution to the Dickinson Library failed on a tie vote. Commissioners said they expect groups that receive public funds to provide clear budgets or reports in the future.

The funding decisions were captured in roll-call votes during the meeting. Commissioners and staff said they will use the approved figures to finalize the county’s 2026 budget in a short, follow-up session this week and that some items (including additional, event-specific payments) will require separate approvals.

Quotes in the meeting stressed the need for accountability: “I wish that we would get some input back from these people,” Commissioner Claris said during the discussion, calling for regular reporting by organizations that receive county money.

Next steps: staff will finalize the updated budget worksheets and bring a final version to commissioners on Thursday for a short meeting to meet statutory deadlines. Several commissioners said they expect continuing conversations with grantees about reporting and conditional funding.