Gloucester County administrator presents $88.4 million FY2026 budget with proposed tax and utility fee increases

County Administrator Miss Steele presented Gloucester County’s proposed fiscal year 2026 budget on March 17, outlining an $88,356,943 spending plan that she said includes a requested 4.3¢ increase to the real-estate tax rate and a proposed 14% utilities fee increase to shore up depleted utility fund balances.

Miss Steele said the package would fund a 3% cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) for most county employees, a state-funded 6% increase for 911 dispatchers, one new full-time position (a digital evidence investigator requested by the sheriff), and about half of the estimated cost of a previously approved salary study. She told the board there are more than $1.2 million in revenue reductions and that the FY2026 total is about 2% above the FY2025 amended budget.

The county administrator framed the proposal as a constrained plan that does not include several department requests: it omits seven of eight requested new positions, two part-time hires, 41% of the county’s facility maintenance/repair/replacement (FMRR) funding request, the superintendent’s $495,729 additional school funding request, and nearly $1 million in PAYGO capital that department heads sought.

Why it matters: Miss Steele warned the board that deferred facility maintenance and postponed capital projects have accumulated and that the county lacks dedicated funds for economic development incentives. She recommended advertising…