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Lincoln County adopts 2026-27 budget after 17-6 vote as commissioners debate $1.49 hourly raise
Summary
The Lincoln County Board of Commissioners adopted the 2026-27 appropriation resolution on June 16, 2026 by a 17-6 vote after heated debate over a personnel committee-backed flat $1.49-per-hour raise for county employees. Finance Director Jason Nix said the change adds about $621,000 to the budget; Commissioners opposing it said a flat raise could worsen pay discrepancies and turnover.
The Lincoln County Board of Commissioners voted 17 in favor, six opposed and one absent on June 16 to approve the fiscal year 2026-27 appropriation resolution, establishing the countybudget that takes effect July 1, 2026.
The most contested issue during debate was the personnel committeeproposal to give a flat $1.49-per-hour across-the-board increase to county employees rather than a percentage-based cost-of-living adjustment. Finance Director Jason Nix told commissioners the flat increase "the impact on it, you would see it in the draft budget under the commission line 188 if I'm not mistaken is 621,000, give or take." Commissioner Jenny Rose Walter said she planned to vote no: "I'm unfortunately going to have to vote no because I don't feel like that was the most fiscally responsible approach. I don't think grouping everybody in there all together is the way I would like to see it done because I think we're pushing out discrepancy in pay that's causing turnover in certain departments."
Supporters of the flat hourly raise, including the personnel committee, said a fixed per-hour increase addresses widening gaps that a percentage raise can exacerbate. One commissioner summarized the rationale as ensuring "everybody gets the same hourly wage increase," arguing it helps lower-paid staff relatively more than a straight percentage would.
The appropriation resolution covered routine year-end cleanup amendments and program-specific entries previously reviewed by the budget committee, which held a public hearing June 2 with no public comment. The budget package includes audit-code corrections to the general fund, grant revenue entries for ARP water ($578,353), ARP health ($298,906.89) and other grant items presented by Finance Director Jason Nix during the meeting.
After the vote to adopt the appropriation resolution, commissioners moved on to other business including setting the tax levy and approving a slate of budget amendments and capital actions (see the "Votes at a glance" article for a full list of formal actions taken June 16).
