Northumberland County reviews FY26 budget scenarios; advertised 8¢ tax rate caps options
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Summary
At a June 2025 budget work session, the Board of Supervisors reviewed proposed FY26 county and school budgets, discussing salary-increase scenarios, proposed cuts and the limits created by an advertised 8¢ real-estate tax rate.
At a June 2025 Northumberland County budget work session, the Board of Supervisors reviewed staff-prepared reductions and additions for the proposed fiscal-year 2026 county and school budgets and discussed how salary increases would affect the county's undesignated fund balance.
County staff told the board they had run a scenario that included a 1.25% salary increase for both school and county employees and that the scenario would reduce the undesignated fund balance by about $399,761. “We advertised the 8¢ tax rate, so we would not be able to go above the 8¢,” county staff said during the meeting.
Why it matters: the board has already advertised an 8¢ real-estate tax rate for the upcoming fiscal year. That advertised rate constrains how much new recurring payroll costs can be absorbed without dipping into reserves or cutting services.
Most important facts: staff said the 1.25% salary scenario would move the budget back into the undesignated fund balance by roughly $399,761. They also said that, if the board wanted a larger salary increase (for example 3%), staff would need to recompute the scenario factoring both county and school budgets; staff noted that because the 8¢ rate was already advertised, they could not increase the advertised rate above that number.
Supporting details: staff presented line-item reductions and level funding proposals across county departments intended to lower costs. Noted reductions included $67,931 in savings under the Board of Supervisors line items, $5,500 under county administration, and an IT reduction of $76,006.14 after a review with the IT director. Under public safety, staff cited a sheriff’s office reduction (production) of $113,000 and recommended level funding rather than an annual 5% increase for volunteer fire and volunteer rescue contributions (reductions of $34,151 and $26,600, respectively). Health and welfare reductions presented totaled $146,067 and included recommended cuts or level funding for organizations such as the Boys & Girls Club, Red Cross, Bay Aging, local food bank, Haven, the free health clinic and Bay Transit. Staff described some reductions as eliminations of contributions and others as level funding.
Board members pressed for context. One member asked for 2019 budget figures for comparison, and staff said they would retrieve and share those numbers. Another member asked for enrollment and reimbursement updates from the school division and for projections of overspending; school officials said reimbursement processing takes about 60 days and that outside accounting firm UHY was working with the school to reconcile reimbursements and accounts.
Discussion versus decision: the meeting recorded detailed staff recommendations and board questions but did not include formal votes on the proposed cuts or on raises for FY26. The board scheduled follow-up work (including a joint meeting with the school board) and directed staff to provide additional data for subsequent budget work sessions.
Next steps: staff will run any additional salary- and tax-rate scenarios the board requests, provide historic budget comparisons (requested 2019 figures), and supply more detail on specified line items ahead of the next budget meetings.
