York County Council abolishes recreation tax district, adopts FY26 budget with stipend plan for municipal recreation

York County Council voted 5–2 on June 2 to abolish the York County Recreation Tax District and approved the countyfiscal year 2026 operating budget, a package that includes a proposed stipend program intended to replace some of the tax districtfunding to municipalities that run youth recreation programs.

The councilaction followed a public hearing and an extended staff presentation. Tom Couch, assistant county manager, summarized the staffproposal as creating a data-driven, per-participant stipend to reimburse municipalities for unincorporated York County residents who register for municipal youth recreation programs, paired with a modest capital grants program. Couch said the capital program would start at $25,000 annually for small municipalities that have no active recreation programs. County Manager Josh (County Manager) told council the stipends that staff has been discussing would likely fall in the $75-to-$100 range, depending on final decisions, and that staff would work with municipalities to verify registrant data before payments were made.

Why it matters: the recreation tax district has charged only unincorporated property owners…