Lancaster County Council adopts FY2025–26 budget, approves 5% across‑the‑board pay increase and targeted position adjustments

Lancaster County Council adopted the fiscal year 2025–26 budget and related ordinances after a lengthy presentation and debate that included questions about implementation details, insurance claims and district funding timelines. Council voted unanimously to approve the budget as amended.

The budget includes a 5% across‑the‑board salary increase for full‑time and part‑time staff effective July 1, plus a package of position‑specific adjustments and new positions. The administrator's presentation and staff material show 42 new full‑time equivalents in the proposed staffing plan and a set of targeted upgrades aimed at addressing minimum wage compression, recruitment and retention in specific departments.

Council members pressed finance staff on how the salary increases and position adjustments are applied. County staff said the 5% raise is applied first to employees' current base pay; where a position upgrade is authorized (for example, reclassifying a role to a higher pay grade or moving an existing employee to a new minimum), the employee's new pay will reflect the upgraded grade. Staff also agreed to provide a position‑level table before the next reading showing current pay, the 5% adjusted total and the final salary after any position adjustment.

Council approved one amendment offered during the meeting: a $57,000 line item to fund annual hose testing requested by the fire commission. That amendment passed unanimously and was incorporated into the adopted budget.

Council members and speakers during public comment pressed staff on several budgetary and operational issues that they asked to see clarified before the budget moved to final reading: several residents raised concerns about storm damage to the Burns Building roof and whether insurance had been pursued or exhausted; staff said the county had discussed a claim with its insurer but had not accepted a limited settlement and would follow up with detailed responses on insurance conversations. Council also discussed funding for a McDonald's Green fire staffing plan and whether anticipated fee districts and funding sources would be timed to match planned July 1 starts; staff said additional work is needed and offered to return with options, and council asked that any ongoing commitments be conditioned on the fee district schedule or revisited once the fee districts are finalized.

Council also unanimously adopted the county's revised capital improvement plan (CIP) for fiscal years 2021–2031, which the planning commission had recommended. Staff emphasized that adoption of the CIP is a planning and prioritization action and does not itself appropriate project funds.

What happens next: staff agreed to provide the requested pay‑level table and further detail on insurance claims and the McDonald's Green funding timeline before final budget publication. The County Administrator and finance staff told council they will update the record for the budget reading on June 23.

Votes at this meeting: the budget ordinance for FY2025–26 (ordinance 2025‑19‑71) was adopted 7–0; council amendment to add $57,000 for hose testing was adopted 7–0; the CIP amendment ordinance (ordinance 2025‑19‑70) was adopted 7–0.

Ending: The county will post the final adopted budget and supporting schedules once staff have incorporated the clarifications requested by council and completed the administrative follow‑ups noted during the meeting.