With another round of budget discussions scheduled for Aug. 25, the Seward County Commissioners are continuing to whittle their budget needs down for 2026-27.
The commissioners expected to cut a little from most county departments’ budget proposals this year to comply with the state’s $542,000 cap on any increase in their levy amount, but departmental budgets submitted totaled $4 million more than last year, which is considerably more than that lid will allow.
Commissioners have met in public sessions with each department and have trimmed the running total on the budget down around $42 million. But they still have a ways to go.
The county’s revenue is a mix of property taxes, state and federal funding, grants and fees. Many of its budget items are mandated by the state. Most departments get all or part of their budgets from the county’s general fund, which is comprised of property tax revenues.
The task is a challenge in part because the county is increasing all staff wages 2% with an option for an additional 2% merit increase in the fiscal year that began July 1.
Also, the county’s health insurance increased 15% and other insurance plans also required increased funding, County Commission Chair Misty Ahmic said.
Ahmic often reminds the board that they have decreased the levy in the past few years and she is averse to increasing it.
At the Aug. 11 meeting, Seward County Sheriff Mike Vance spoke to the commission about his request for an increase of about 20% – around $500,000 – for his department. The funds would, at least in part, subsidize the Seward County Drug Interdiction Task Force program for which the U.S. Treasury Department still says the department cannot spend funds.
The county has worked with the U.S. Treasury and Justice Departments to clear up and repay funds flagged as inappropriate expenditures that came to light in 2025. The Justice Department has lifted its hold on the sheriff’s department’s funds and there is about $40,000 in it from Justice Department disbursals.
The Treasury Department has not yet lifted the spending freeze.
“That is much less than the total that has been available in the past,” Ahmic said in a later interview.
Money seized by the Seward County Drug Interdiction program is sent to the two federal departments. The Seward County Sheriff’s office and Seward County Attorney’s office are among the offices participating in the program that receive funds back. The county attorney’s funds were not affected by the hold.
Last fiscal year, commissioners budgeted $480,000 for the sheriff’s department to make up for funds the interdiction program needed. Some of the funds had been used in the past to pay school resource officer salaries.
This year, Ahmic said, the county cannot afford the extra funding.
At the commissioners’ meeting, Vance and others discussed how some deputies had been providing their own gasoline for county vehicles to assist in the department’s budget efforts and the department for a time had handled vehicle oil changes on their own instead of taking vehicles elsewhere for that service.
Vance said he did not ask the deputies to provide their own fuel and Ahmic said the action came as a surprise to the commissioners.
“It is still not OK,” she said. “We do not expect employees to pay out of their own pockets to do their jobs.”
Commissioners raised questions about whether it would be better to have officers share vehicles or leave vehicles at the sheriff’s office when their shift is done to save on vehicle costs.
Vance also told commissioners he had allowed one deputy to cut their hours until after the November election in which a new sheriff will succeed Vance, who is retiring.
Other staff were filling in for that position and the department was asked to add people to the schedule for the 4th of July, Vance said. Those factors influence overtime expenditures. Vance also noted the commissioners approved two extra holidays last year, which caused additional expense for his department.
The budget proposal also includes replacement uniform equipment, body and car cameras and possible generator repairs.
Commissioner Darrell Zabrocki said he raised questions about the generator while conducting the department’s inventory.
“I would like to see that thing hooked up, but now is not the time,” he said.
Ahmic said the commissioners have to balance the needs of other departments, also, noting specifically the Department of Roads.
“We approved no equipment for our roads department this year,” she said.
The county has the option to use an exception to the state’s lid for expenditures deemed emergencies, and Ahmic said they will utilize an exception to budget extra funds to complete payment on the updated camera and security system for the Seward County Jail.
The county has already funded one-third of the estimated $339,000 expense for equipment and installation, but the remaining two-thirds would come via the exception.
