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Berkeley County Commission lays out FY26 budget preserving current levy, budgets raises for employees
Summary
Commissioners presented and approved FY26 budget allocations that keep the county levy rate unchanged and include a 5% across-the-board pay increase (capped at $4,000 per employee) plus targeted recruitment/retention items for public-safety offices.
Berkeley County commissioners on the record presented and advanced a fiscal year 2026 spending plan that keeps the county property tax levy at its current rate and builds pay increases into the operating budget.
County staff projected total available revenue of $53,750,978 for FY26, including an estimated $29,288,917 in property tax receipts and an unassigned fund balance of about $2,585,073, Gary (county staff member) told the commission during the budget presentation. “You’re going to spend about $53,750,978,” Gary said as he reviewed revenue lines.
The commission’s personnel priorities included a countywide 5% pay increase, capped at $4,000 per employee, and a separate $5,000 starting incentive for sheriff’s deputies. Officials also built funding for other departmental requests into the plan, while declining to raise the tax levy: the commission kept the county’s levy rate “where it exists today,” a commissioner said during the session, rather than increasing it to match rising needs.
Why it matters: Building raises into the base budget reduces the chance that raises will be deferred later in the year and provides predictable funding for departments that have struggled to recruit and retain staff.
What commissioners approved and funded: the presentation and line-item walk-through distributed funding to elected offices and departments including the county clerk, circuit clerk, assessor, prosecutor, courts and public safety agencies. The sheriff’s office and 9-1-1 communications received specific recruitment and retention funding in the plan. The commission also shifted some expenditures to the coal-severance budget where applicable.
Commissioners repeatedly noted the tension between delivering services, retaining staff and avoiding new tax burdens on residents. The administration said revenue growth alone would have required raising the levy by roughly 4% to address all requests; the commission chose not to raise the levy.
Looking ahead: County officials said they will continue to press state legislators for additional local revenue tools — including a proposed local sales-tax option — that officials said they would direct toward public-safety and emergency services if authorized.
Votes at a glance: The commission approved the FY26 allocations as presented during the budget review (motion/mover: not specified; outcome: approved).
