Hood County budget workshop flags rising insurance costs and countywide pay proposals

Hood County leaders spent a budget workshop session this week reviewing departmental requests and warning that benefit and personnel costs are putting pressure on the FY26 spending plan. Finance staff told the court that workers’ compensation and unemployment accounts needed additional funding — unemployment was increased in the draft by $75,000 — and that health-insurance planning used a 30% increase estimate from the county broker for planning purposes.

The court’s presiding judge and several department heads front‑loaded personnel topics. “I put 5% on all the employees,” one judge said when explaining initial salary placeholders while noting the court must still approve a final across‑the‑board adjustment. Presenters also highlighted a small but consequential retirement contribution uptick and the cost of covering visiting judges for complex probate trials.

Why it matters: benefits and insurance are countywide line items that affect every department’s ability to pay for staff and services. The court’s early estimates for health and unemployment increases mean commissioners will have to reconcile those costs with capital and departmental priorities later in the budget process.

Departments offered specifics to justify their asks. The county’s insurance accountant said workers’‑comp claims and prior large claims contributed to a higher projected rate and the county had budgeted a $100,000 deductible for convective‑storm losses. The presenter added that recent high claims activity made exact health‑insurance increases uncertain, so the 30% figure was a planning assumption rather than a guaranteed rate.

The court did not take formal votes at the workshop; commissioners directed staff to refine cost estimates and return with final revenue and expenditure projections ahead of the budget adoption schedule.