Hampshire County commissioners approve first general fund revision for FY 2025–26

Hampshire County commissioners on July 15 approved General Fund Revision No. 1, transferring unexpended funds from the 2024–25 fiscal year into the 2025–26 budget to provide operating cash ahead of new tax receipts.

The revision moves $880,721 into the new fiscal year, short of the $1 million originally budgeted for transfer; officials said that shortfall required taking reductions from several 2025–26 line items. “We had budgeted a million dollars to be transferred in the, February fund. And we were actually able to transfer 880,721,” said Clerk Scribe, the county clerk, summarizing the numbers presented to the commission.

The change was made to ensure the county had operating funds until tax collections begin later in the summer. Clerk Scribe said the revision reduced the planned transfer by about $119,272 and described the line-item adjustments used to cover the gap, including $100,000 from the County Commission budget and smaller reductions from other building and contingency accounts.

Treasurer’s Office and clerk’s staff both told commissioners they have seen spending from reserves over recent years and advised caution. “There’s been pressure on last year’s budget and our funding,” Clerk Scribe said. “We had a lot of expenditures in the last year, last couple of years… we were asked to help and did help HCSA, the Emergency Ambulance Service, to the tune of $767,972.” The treasurer’s office representative concurred that “there’s not substantial funds there to be giving out to what’s not already been budgeted for.”

The commission moved and seconded the budget revision; President Englanger called for the ayes and said, “Motion passed.” The county will submit the revision to the auditor’s office as required by the county’s schedule.

The vote and discussion make explicit that commissioners are relying on monthly reconciliations and the clerk/treasurer reconciliation process to manage cash flow. Officials noted tax receipts will not fully arrive until mid‑August to mid‑October depending on collections and that the transferred funds will be used to “float” county operations until then.

The commission did not attach any new, ongoing spending to this revision. Instead, the transfer is an administrative step to move remaining prior-year cash into the new fiscal year’s accounts.

Looking ahead, commissioners said they will continue to monitor cash flow and cautioned that the county’s available reserves have been drawn down by prior emergency and one-time expenditures, such as assistance to EMS and the development authority.