Commissioners Discuss Budget Struggles For 2026

By Gordon HopkinsOngoing workforce shortages have forced both private and public employers to increase salaries and benefits, even as federal funding cuts and inflation strain local budgets. Jefferson County Commissioners addressed that reality at a meeting with department heads on Tuesday, June 17, 2025.After some debate, commissioners preliminarily approved an increase of 3.5 percent to county employee wages and an overall increase to the budget of two percent.Board chair Mark Schoenrock explained the difficulty in balancing the need to retain staff with responsible budgeting, “We don’t want to be too high, because we have a responsibility to our taxpayers, but we don’t want to be too low either because we don’t want to have a revolving door. The worst enemy of any organization is a revolving door. If you’re constantly losing people and having to go out and get new people, that has a huge effect on the operation, and we don’t have that here and don’t want to have it.” Road ProjectsRoad projects have a major impact on local budgets. Commissioners have noted previously that major road construction projects are beyond the ability of the county without federal funding. So, those projects must be planned and budgeted around whatever federal funding is available.For exampled, commissioners have spent several years attempting to get enough money to fix the PWF (Pawnee City, Wymore, Fairbury) Road. The project is anticipated to cost approximately $12.5 million. Schoenrock said, “We’ve got $8.5 million in federal funding, so the county board is going to have to do a bond for probably somewhere around $4 million.”Schoenrock noted the county still has four more years until another bond for a road in Plymouth is paid off, “So, we’re going to have a double whammy on the county budget for about four years.”Despite the additional strain on the budget, commissioners saw no option but to take on that fincancial burden.”“You can’t stare $8.5 million in the face and turn it down, especially for a road that so many people depend on,” said Schoenrock. “Ever since I was little kid that road has been in bad shape. It’s going to be a beautiful road for the county, but it’s going to be tough for about four years while we’re paying off both of those bonds.” Inheritance Tax“I think we just really need to tighten our belts, and I think we need to maybe get creative and look at some big things. God forbid we lose that inheritance tax,” said Commissioner Danielle Schwab.Eliminating inheritance tax has been a goal of a number of Nebraska legislators for many year. A bill that would have reduced inheritance tax but also provided replacement revenue failed to advance in the legislature by two votes.Schoenrock said that, if inheritance tax is totally eliminated without replacing the lost revenue, “It’s going to be really hell next year for our budget.”Commissioners estimated that Jefferson County could lose up to ten percent of its operating budget without inheritance tax.Schwab said, “I think that we probably, as a whole, rely a little bit more on that inheritance tax to make our budget work than I’d like to see. And so, I think we really need to start thinking about what we need versus what we want now.”

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