Soil and Water Conservation District requests modest budget increase as state grants decline

Kevin (Soil and Water Conservation District supervisor) and staff presented the district’s 2026 budget request on Tuesday, asking the county to support a modest increase as several state grant lines contract. Kevin said the district included a 3% cost‑of‑living adjustment and modeled a 10% increase in health‑insurance costs for 2026. He told commissioners that some state grant lines that had been temporarily increased in the 2023–24 biennium are expected to revert, producing an estimated $13,000 reduction in state grant revenue for the district; SWCD aid that stepped up to $15 million statewide in 2023 is projected to shrink to $12 million, costing the district about $36,000 in aid under current estimates. The district also reported a reduction in fee income: tree program sales and no‑till drill rentals have softened, and a $100,000 no‑till drill purchase earlier (50% paid with a state grant) affects the capital posture. District staff said the office has experienced higher than usual turnover recently — roughly one‑third of staff resigned in the past seven months — and the district is pausing on hiring a replacement until economic conditions clarify. Kevin said the district aims to maintain roughly a three‑to‑four‑month reserve now and prefers to hold to an internal goal of about six months of reserves; he described the request as a 2.3% overall increase in the county allocation to cover salaries, benefits and modest program needs. Commissioners thanked the district for long‑running programs — tree plantings, no‑till drill rentals, conservation outreach — and encouraged staff to work with the auditor’s office on clarifying reserve balances and prior year audit results before final decisions. The board did not take action Tuesday; county staff said they would include the district request in the preliminary budget package and return with comparative data.