A meeting was held at 5pm to discuss the current county draft budget for Fiscal Year (FY) 2025-2026. The county council, county manager, county government department heads, and concerned citizens were in attendance.
The draft budget was reviewed by the County Manager, Jerry Jones. Currently the draft budget is very fluid given the uncertainty of federal and state contributions and mandates. Additionally, insurance rates are unknown. County roads are being inspected given the harsh winter. Maple Elementary and the high school need repairs. These potential additional costs are being assessed.
The county council members had the following comments and concerns:
- Nicholls expressed concern about the poor condition of some of the housing.
- Kramer expressed concern about public safety, EMS/Sheriff operations and road conditions.
- Travers commented that this is the worst budget condition he has experienced as a council member. The state is no friend to rural counties. And counties will not receive the final state budget until May or June.
- Detmer and Mr. Pfeffer expressed concern about the “outrageous” mandates from the state and their ability to pay the bills.
A representative from Enterprise Vehicle Leasing gave a brief virtual presentation about the total cost of ownership of vehicles, particularly within the Sheriff’s department.
Several capital improvement requests were discussed, including:
- 911 logging recorder for incoming calls
- Aging ambulances
- Excavators for solid waste and public works
- Wildlife fencing
- Future replacement of the public safety facility ($30M)
Before the unexpected state mandates/cost-shifting, the county budget appeared to be balanced when taking $2.4M from reserves. However, after $5.6M in cost shifts from the state, the county appears to have a $6,214,842 deficit. This does NOT include the county school system’s potential request for county support with a projected $10M deficit.
The current revenue projection for the county is $87.7M with an expenditure projection of $93.9M.
Submitted by Sharon Smith, Cambridge Association of Neighborhoods