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Yamhill committee approves department add‑backs, moves to protect general fund and denies community grant requests
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Summary
Budget committee approved roughly $607,000 in add‑backs (including parks, fairgrounds and two sheriff deputies), allocated some funding from the video‑lottery fund, and declined outside community grant requests, while discussing a target general‑fund reserve for FY27.
Yamhill County's budget committee approved a set of departmental add‑backs and funding adjustments and denied a slate of outside community grant requests during its multi‑day FY27 deliberations.
Ken, the county's budget officer, walked the committee through the tracking spreadsheet that showed discretionary buckets (general fund, retirement reserve, landfill license reserve, video‑lottery and opioid settlement funds). Committee members debated which buckets were appropriate for specific requests and emphasized preserving a healthy general‑fund ending balance ahead of the fiscal year. "I do feel like I answered it — start high and end up higher than we were last year," one member said when arguing for a conservative reserve posture.
Approved items included a one‑time $25,000 video‑lottery allocation to the fairgrounds and multiple park add‑backs that restored a position and covered supplies. The committee also approved funding to add two deputy positions for patrol and a court‑security allocation. The committee moved some equipment and one‑time project costs to discrete buckets (for example, video lottery for the fairgrounds) while asking that recurring position costs be funded from the general fund. Staff recorded the committee had approved roughly $607,004.17 in total add‑backs at the time of reporting, leaving a projected general‑fund balance of approximately $1.31 million under the committee's working assumptions.
Carrie, the county clerk, asked for targeted funding for election costs at the new building — ballot printing, temporary fencing for secure ballot transfer, and additional election‑night security. The committee approved the clerk's add‑back requests but directed that some items be treated case‑by‑case as they materialize during the fiscal year.
On community grant requests, the committee considered several nonprofit proposals including CASA and other local service organizations. After discussion, the committee voted to deny all community requests for funding from the budget package, citing limited taxpayer resources and the committee's priority to fund core county services; members encouraged private fundraising and contract arrangements for organizations seeking operational support.
Finally, the committee approved forwarding the FY27 budget as amended and set the tentative tax rate at $2.5775 per $1,000 of assessed value (the same rate used previously). The packet and the committee's recommendations will go to the full board for adoption later in the budget schedule.
