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Seward County commissioners outline $4.6M gap, eye benefit changes and fund transfers to balance 2026 budget
Summary
Seward County commissioners on Jan. 28 reviewed draft 2026 budget numbers and identified about a $4.6 million funding gap. Staff reported a general-fund revenue estimate of $11,952,608.12 and commissioners discussed cuts, transfers and potential changes to employee-benefit arrangements to close the shortfall ahead of a follow-up work session and insurer review.
The Seward County Board of Commissioners spent the bulk of a Jan. 28 work session reviewing draft 2026 revenue numbers and debating how to close an estimated $4.6 million shortfall in the county's budget.
Staff presented fund-level estimates and told commissioners the general fund would likely bring in about $11,952,608.12, current through period 13 for 2025. A staff member said the county's total revenue was roughly $17.1 million across levy funds, and that revenue-neutral calculations must be set based on final valuations after the BOTA hearing.
The budget shortfall discussion focused on three levers: trimming departmental personnel and operating budgets, reconsidering a $600,000 transfer to the special-highway fund, and lowering the county's projected employee-benefits carryover. Commissioners and staff identified an initial set of line-item reductions totaling roughly $330,000 in one department, including a proposed $50,000 cut to personnel services, $43,000 in benefit reductions for a single added position and a $237,000 reduction from an ARC-related allocation.
Commissioners repeatedly returned to employee-benefits costs as the largest and most uncertain driver of the deficit. Staff walked the board through historical and projected benefits spending and reserve practice, saying the county's reported benefits figures vary by year because of accounting entries and an older payroll/CIC interaction that posts some costs to liabilities. A staff member summarized the general-fund outlook and the need to set a realistic carryover: "So on your general fund, $11,952,608.12," and later noted a bottom-line general-fund figure of about "$5,766,154" that the board was using as a working target for revenue-neutral calculations.
Options on the table included changing the structure of the county's health coverage (moving from a partly self-funded plan toward a premium-based approach), further personnel reductions and delaying or rescinding planned transfers into the special-highway fund. Commissioners asked staff to obtain more-accurate employee-benefits accounting and to have insurance vendors (IMA/Blue Cross Blue Shield, among others referenced) provide comparative bids; staff said insurer quotes and options would be presented in February.
Other items discussed in the same session included reimbursement arrangements tied to private projects (staff said county legal paperwork referenced possible reimbursements from private developers for attorney costs), the county's economic-development contribution (a historically $150,000 county share with separate benefit reimbursements) and the first scheduled bond payment in 2026 tied to special-highway projects.
No formal votes were recorded during the work session. Commissioners agreed to schedule follow-up sessions: one focused specifically on employee benefits and insurance options, and another to continue line-item review. Staff was asked to circulate department proposals and clarifying accounting entries ahead of the next meeting so commissioners could consider revised, more-accurate projections before taking any formal action.
