The Pennington County Board of Commissioners adopted the county's FY2026 annual budget on Sept. 29 after approving a package of adjustments to the provisional budget, including personnel modifications, operating transfers and contingency funding.

Why it matters: The budget outlines county spending and the plan to draw on reserves to balance revenues and expenditures for fiscal year 2026. Commissioners debated staff levels, departmental reductions and how much cash to apply from reserves.

What staff presented: Jordan Ebb, director of the commission office, said the board previously approved a provisional 2026 budget on July 23 and that the provisional expenditures "excluding interfund transfers" were $128,650,000. Ebb told commissioners there were known changes to incorporate, including omitted line items, changes to operating transfers and personnel adjustments. He said the provisional budget left a shortfall that required using budgeted cash-applied and that the general fund cash-applied figure was $4,500,000 (about 16.3% of the anticipated starting general fund balance).

Major motions and adjustments: Commissioners approved an omnibus motion that altered numerous fund and department line items (motions recorded on the public record and incorporated into the final resolution). Among the changes the board approved were increasing general fund contingency to $500,000 and moving specific transfers and adjustments across departmental budgets. The board also approved a set of reductions in certain program budgets and increases in others; Jordan Ebb stated he would file the final calculated amount with the auditor after the commission went into executive session.

Personnel and reserves: Ebb said the budget, as adjusted, would require drawing roughly $9.8 million from budgeted cash-applied across funds, with about $4.5 million coming from the general fund. Commissioners noted the plan would leave an unassigned fund balance of roughly $13.9 million (about 16.3% of the anticipated starting balance); Ebb cautioned that these figures include the statutory 5% mandatory withholding referenced by SDCL 07-21-2018 (as recited during the meeting) and other accounting adjustments.

Votes and roll call: The omnibus motion to incorporate the adjustments passed on the record with one commissioner opposed. Later the board voted to approve the formal resolution adopting the 2026 annual budget; roll call on that resolution recorded the following votes: Commissioner Rosknecht — Nay; Commissioner Dirr — Aye; Commissioner Drews — Nay; Commissioner Weifenbach — Aye; Commissioner Adcock — Aye. The resolution carried.

Debate highlights: Commissioners emphasized the need for better personnel counts and centralized tracking of FTEs going into next year. Commissioner Durr and the commission office staff described efforts during 2025 to reconcile multiple departmental submissions and open positions; finance staff said open positions were fluctuating during the summer and that consolidating position data remains a work in progress.

Next steps: Jordan Ebb will finalize the resolution's numeric totals and file the resolution with the auditor for execution. Commissioners said they will continue work on internal audits, position controls and benefit-plan reviews to inform the 2027 budget cycle.

Ending: The adopted FY2026 budget allows the county to move into the new fiscal year with adjustments agreed by the board, but commissioners signaled additional work on personnel and program-level prioritization ahead of next year's budget process.