Warren County has a balanced budget for 2026.
The Warren County Commissioners took action during Wednesday’s monthly meeting held at the Warren County Courthouse.
A $19.8 million spending plan that includes $12.175 million in local property tax revenue, the budget fully funds all required county services.
The budget is revenue-neutral compared to 2025. The millage rate, 3.26 mills, reflects a comparable level of revenue that was collected in 2025. That’s a mandate per state law - plus or minus 10 percent - as part of the completed property reassessment process.
Commissioner Tricia Durbin said the budgeted property tax revenues are three percent under the neutral number.
After $2.4 million and $1.6 million deficits in the preceding two years, the county broke even in 2025.
One of the major variables believed to have encouraged that improved financial condition was the move to split tax billing in 2025 where municipal and county taxes were paid separately from the school district and earlier in the year.
The change allowed the county to have an understanding of its actual revenue much earlier in the year.
Fiscal Director Bret Baillie said that move brought “liquidity throughout the year.”
He noted that 2025 also saw the highest amount of tax revenue received in many years with $12.1 million collected against $11 million budgeted.
Baillie credited the split billing change there, too.
“More people are paying,” he said, and the number of delinquencies is down.
The improved fiscal picture allows the county to tackle approximately $400,000 in deferred capital expenses while still managing to break even overall.
“We reduced spending,” Baillie said, crediting the county’s department-level leaders for being cost-conscious.
Shifting to 2026, the primary cost drivers in the county budget are staff wages and benefits. Baillie said that healthcare costs are projected to decrease.
“We didn’t raise the employee contribution at all,” he said, though deductible levels were increased.
Terms have also been reached, pending ratification, on collective bargaining agreements with two of the county’s three bargaining units. That provides clear cost certainty heading into the new year.
One of the major variables in 2026 are the pending property appeals before the Court of Common Pleas that have come out of the reassessment process. The filing deadline for those cases was last week and it is unclear what effect those challenges could have on revenue collection in 2026.
Several capital projects initiated in 2025 are expected to take major steps forward in 2026.
Foremost among them is a critically important project aimed at expanding the county’s emergency radio coverage capacity. Significant exterior rehabilitation to the courthouse and repairs to the N. Warren Bike-Hike Trail are also anticipated.