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Lancaster County budget faces rising debt costs and a shortfall against the 7% fund‑balance goal
Summary
County staff presented a draft FY27 budget that keeps tax rates unchanged but faces recurring debt‑service increases tied to recent school bonds; staff says a reimbursed DCR grant and solar‑project payments could temporarily boost the fund balance above the board’s 7% goal, but recurring debt will require future policy choices.
Don presented the Lancaster County draft FY27 budget on March 12, saying the proposal holds tax rates steady and assumes a 3% pay increase but will absorb an estimated 7% increase in health‑insurance costs.
"This budget as I do each year is built assuming no increase in taxes," Don said, adding that one penny on the real‑estate rate equals about $383,022. He told supervisors the FY27 draft projects a year‑end fund balance of roughly $2,288,241, or 4.47% of expenditures, below a prior board’s 7% reserve target.
Don listed recent borrowings that drive the new recurring costs: a $10 million Virginia Resource Authority (VRA) note…
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