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Somerset County proposes modest FY27 budget increase, adds detective and shifts reserves
Summary
County Administrator Tim Curtis presented a FY27 draft with a 2.1% expense increase and a net taxpayer impact of under 0.5%, proposing a new detective post and DA staffing changes while relying on deed revenue and jail boarding income to offset costs.
Somerset County Administrator Tim Curtis presented the proposed FY27 budget, saying the plan shows a 2.1% overall rise in county expenses and a net taxpayer impact of less than 0.5%. The draft includes a request to add a detective position in the Sheriff’s Office and staffing changes in the District Attorney’s Office to address a backlog of felony cases; Curtis told commissioners the plan expects to offset costs through reduced capital spending and increased revenues in the Registry of Deeds and from jail boarding contracts.
The budget presentation laid out department-level changes that drove the modest overall increase: a 13% rise in the DA budget, a proposed 26% jump in the detective line, a 7% increase in patrol lines, and an $800,000 projected rise in corrections boarding revenue. Commissioners discussed whether to use fund balance to keep taxes flat or to add to capital reserves; the consensus favored bolstering capital reserves to smooth future tax impacts. Administrator Curtis also noted several line-item adjustments—use of TIF funds to raise the county contribution to SEDC and a continuing $6,000 tourism contribution split between General Fund and TIF.
