Greene County manager presents tight, balanced 2026–27 budget and flags salary-study costs

The Greene County manager presented a recommended 2026–27 budget that he described as a balanced, but “tight” plan, using the prior year’s tax rate and prioritizing employee compensation adjustments, capital needs and essential services. He told commissioners the recommended budget attempts to maintain present service levels while implementing parts of a recently completed salary study.

The manager said the proposed budget assumes the same tax rate as the previous year and uses projected revenue increases — including a 4.7% sales-tax projection that staff estimates could add roughly $338,000 — to cover some new costs. He told commissioners, “This is a budget. This is a planning document for the next fiscal year's expenses for the county,” and cautioned that expenses are “outrunning the increase in [the] tax base.”

Why it matters: the budget funds a 300,000 increase for Green County Schools, maintains community college and library funding at prior-year levels, and continues modest capital spending on vehicles and software while proposing a single new in-house IT position to reduce reliance on outsourced support. The manager also highlighted utility rate adjustments that are pass-throughs tied to higher supplier fees and a long-standing shortfall for landfill-closure liabilities that the county is addressing incrementally.

Key details: the manager said the recommended compensation approach includes a 2% cost-of-living adjustment in the draft, but commissioners noted the Consumer Price Index figure at the time of discussion was about 3.8%. On employee pay, staff told the board the budget builds in either a 2% COLA or the results of the salary study, whichever yields higher pay for employees. The manager warned that increasing the COLA beyond the draft figure would reduce fund balance and may require offsets elsewhere.

Budget trade-offs: commissioners asked about specific line items, including a $110,000 request for tax appraisal software to prepare for the 2029 revaluation and software conversion costs in planning and permitting systems. Staff noted some department requests were typographical or request-versus-recommend corrections; where required, recommended cuts were made to free funds for salary adjustments.

Next steps: staff will finalize the budget ordinance and present it for formal consideration at the upcoming meeting. Commissioners discussed the option of directing staff to increase the COLA if they want to align with current CPI figures, but no final decision was recorded in the workshop. The manager emphasized the county’s limited fund balance and cautioned against decisions that could create recurring shortfalls.