Budget committee backs status-quo FY2026 plan, budgets contingency for $50 volunteer fire per-diem and shifts funds to schools

The Budget and Finance Committee met June 3 and recommended the county's proposed fiscal 2026 operating plan with no across-the-board employee raises, while budgeting contingent funds tied to a separate Emergency Services resolution that would raise volunteer fire and rescue per-diem pay to $50 per day. Committee members also approved a motion to reallocate two cents of property-tax revenue from the ambulance fund (Fund 118) to the school fund (Fund 141) to cover a requested education supplement.

The committee's action matters because it shapes what the full commission will vote on and affects school budgets, volunteer emergency responders and county employees. Committee members said they set salaries in the draft budget close to status quo so the Commission could consider outstanding resolutions and tax options before final adoption.

Committee chair Ford, who led the session, opened the meeting with an overview of the proposed fund balances, reading estimated ending balances for multiple funds and noting a $2,000,086 estimated net decrease in Fund 101 (general fund). Finance staff read line-item balances and answered procedural questions about debt service and principal payments.

The committee discussed a separate Emergency Services resolution that requests increasing volunteer per-diem pay to $50 for fire and rescue. Ford said the committee placed the dollar amounts in the proposed budget "based on the resolution that is going before the commission," and emphasized the committee was not itself adopting the per-diem pay but was showing what it would cost the budget if the Commission approved the resolution.

Sheriff Russell described how dispatch codes and first-responder roles work and explained that deputies often arrive first and then request fire or rescue as needed, saying, "Usually, the deputy gets there first most of the time. Then he'll relay back what we need." That exchange informed committee questions about whether training calls should be paid at the same rate as emergency responses.

Committee members debated the size and scope of any pay change for volunteers. One committee member noted the proposed $50 per-diem would be roughly a 66.7% increase compared with the paid amount on last year's payouts; committee members observed the per-diem had not increased since before 2010. Ford said the committee had forwarded a "favorable recommendation" earlier and that the numbers were placed in the budget to reflect the potential Commission decision.

On employee compensation, the committee left the draft budget with no across-the-board raises but continued discussion of alternatives. Members discussed a dollar-per-hour flat increase, a percentage increase, and targeted raises for low starting wages. Finance staff said a $1/hour increase for the county's full-time employees would cost roughly in the low hundreds of thousands of dollars after benefits (committee estimates ranged around $250,000 plus medical and payroll costs), which they translated into an approximate property-tax impact (committee discussion placed a $1 across-the-board cost at roughly 7'.5 cents of property tax; committee members cautioned that the final number would depend on overtime, insurance and other payroll costs).

Sheriff Russell offered to remove several deputy positions from his budget if the county approved a larger pay package (the sheriff had earlier asked for a 10% increase and said he would give up positions conditionally if that level of raise were approved). Committee members noted two positions had already been removed as inadvertent line items and that any further personnel changes would affect staffing and shift coverage.

Facing a shortfall in some funds and the pending resolution, a committee member moved to "move the 2¢ from the Fund 118 ambulance to Fund 141 schools to cover" the education request; the motion was seconded by Ford and approved by the committee. Committee discussion estimated the two-cent shift would move roughly $72,000 (committee figures discussed in the meeting placed the dollar amount in the low-$70,000 range), though members noted the exact sum depends on final assessed values and growth money.

Ford closed the meeting by asking members to consider a plan to revisit raises and tax options at a follow-up meeting. The committee set a tentative reconvening for next Tuesday at 6 p.m. to finalize recommendations to the full commission. The final budget package and any action on the volunteer per-diem resolution will be decided by the Commission in a subsequent public meeting.

Votes at a glance

- Motion to move two cents of property-tax revenue from Fund 118 (ambulance) to Fund 141 (schools) to cover an education supplement: Mover ' an unidentified committee member; second ' Mr. Ford; outcome ' approved (tally not specified in the transcript). - Committee disposition of Emergency Services resolution proposing $50 per-diem for volunteer fire and rescue: committee budgeted the amount contingent on Commission approval and earlier recorded a favorable recommendation from Emergency Services (the resolution itself will be before the Commission; committee placed funds in the draft budget conditional on passage).