Berks County commissioners outline 2025 accomplishments and 2026 priorities
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Summary
Commissioners reviewed 2025 accomplishments — maintaining Moody's rating, airport progress and budget savings — and set 2026 priorities including fiscal responsibility, AI policy, Reading Regional Airport hangars, passenger rail and regional planning for violent youth detention.
Berks County commissioners spent their Feb. 13 meeting reviewing achievements from 2025 and setting goals for 2026, emphasizing fiscal responsibility, technology policy and regional infrastructure projects. Chairman Linebaugh said the county maintained a top Moody's rating and is pursuing additional hangars and economic growth at Reading Regional Airport. "Fiscal responsibility is and will continue to be job number 1," Commissioner Michael Rivera said, citing a voluntary 2025 "budget diet" that saved $523,000 in 2025 and nearly $1.4 million toward the 2026 budget.
Why it matters: maintaining bond ratings and sustainable budgets affects the county's borrowing costs and the delivery of public services. Commissioners tied those goals to economic development, county operations and long-term service delivery at county-owned facilities such as Berks Heim, the county nursing home.
Details: Rivera described a continuing savings-and-efficiency program that includes shared equipment purchases, downsizing fleet replacements at the jail and vendor consolidation. He said the county employs about 2,100 people and is prioritizing succession planning so each department has a deputy able to run operations in a head's absence. Rivera also referenced an agricultural study indicating agriculture supports approximately $1,000,000,000 for the local economy.
Chairman Linebaugh outlined technology and long-range goals, calling for an "ethics-driven AI policy" and active pilot deployments (the county is testing Microsoft Copilot) alongside training and data-protection rules. Linebaugh listed three long-term priorities: succession planning to replace an aging management cohort, establishing AI governance, and ensuring Berks Heim's long-term fiscal stability. He said the county has been operating Berks Heim in the black while many other county nursing homes closed for financial reasons.
On infrastructure, commissioners said they expect progress in passenger-rail corridor work in 2026 and reiterated support for expanding Reading Regional Airport, where one hangar contract was recently let and the board hopes to add at least one significant aviation tenant and at least two new hangars in 2026.
Next steps: Commissioners said fuller slide decks and reports will be posted on county and commissioners' websites for public review.