​YORK – As the York County Commissioners continued sifting through the county’s budget, in an effort to whittle down the bottom line for total spending, they also passed resolutions setting wages for the county’s deputy elected officials.
They had conversations about proposed wages for each of the positions (deputy clerk, deputy clerk of the district court, deputy county attorney, deputy assessor, deputy treasurer and deputy public defender) – which was a continuation of the conversation they had started two weeks earlier.
It was decided the position of deputy public defender will be set after someone actually fills that position. There hasn’t been a deputy public defender in quite some time.
It was proposed by York County Assessor Kurt Bulgrin that the deputy assessor be given a higher raise than others because of the certification which is required for that position and because the deputy assessor has been in office longer than other deputies. He had suggested an increase of $2.90 an hour – the commissioners went with an additional $1.50.
When it came to the deputy county attorney, the county attorney was recommending a $4,500-a-year increase in pay, which the commissioners cut down to $3,000. York County Commissioner Chairman Daniel Grotz noted how the deputy county attorney did not get a raise last year, “so there needs to be something.”
“When we look at the percentages, $4,500 is a nice raise and we talked about $3,-000, which would take him to $116,000 a year. He didn’t take a raise last year – he actually declined which was admirable for him to do,” Obermier said with Grotz noting Deputy Attorney Chris Johnson had also offered to stay the same again this year. Obermier said he was recommending they take that salary to $116,000 a year.
The following wages were approved for deputy elected officials in the county:

• Deputy assessor: $30.50 an hour
• Deputy clerk: $26.50 an hour
• Deputy attorney: $116,000 a yar
• Deputy clerk of the district court: $26.50 an hour
• Deputy treasurer: $29 an hour

The commissioners also approved the wages for department heads and their employees at amounts which were discussed two weeks prior to this most recent meeting.
 

​NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that a meeting of the Board of Commissioners & Board of Equalization of York County, Nebraska, will be held beginning at 8:30 a.m. in the Commissioners Room, main floor of the Courthouse (510 Lincoln Ave., York, Nebraska) on Tuesday, September 15, 2026.
All meetings are held on the main floor of the Courthouse, in the County Commissioners Room, and are open to the public. Agendas for such meetings, kept continuously current, are available for public inspection at the office of the County Clerk; however, the Board may modify the agendas at such meetings. (View agenda on York County web site www.yorkcounty.ne.gov)
Mary Melby
County Clerk
York County, Nebraska

Public notice is hereby given, in compliance with the provisions of Neb. Rev. Stat. § 77-1633, that a representative of the following political subdivisions will meet on the 16th day of September, 2026 at 6:01 p.m., at York County Courthouse, 510 N Lincoln Ave, in the basement of the Courthouse, for the purpose of conducting a joint public hearing to obtain public input on property tax increases proposed by the subdivisions:
Heartland Public School, 1-402-723-4434, property tax requested, $5,488,564.00
York County Nebraska, 1-402-362-7759, opt 5, property tax request, $9,712,972.28
Said meeting is open to the public. Accommodations for the disabled are available upon request. Please contact the York County Clerk at 402-362-7759 at least 48 hours prior to the meeting if accommodations are required.
There is no item on the agenda for this joint public meeting other than discussion of each political subdivision’s intent to increase its property tax request by a percentage greater than the “allowable growth percentage” defined in § 77-1633. The political subdivisions shall make their presentations in the order listed above.

YORK – Ashley Rasmussen, who has worked for the York County Roads Department for 10 years as the office manager, has been named the new highway superintendent for the county.

​YORK – York County Commissioner Chairman Daniel Grotz and York County Commissioner Vice-Chairman Randy Obermier will share zoning duties for the county until a new administrator is hired.

​Editor’s note: This is the final installment in a long series of stories involving the York County Commissioners’ work toward formulating the budget for the 2026-27 fiscal year. They have been working toward cutting $2.6 million from the preliminary budget in order to comply with budget authority regulations.
YORK – The York County Commissioners, as they went through each county fund in a search to save money, eventually focused on the inheritance fund.
From this fund, amounts are given each year to outside agencies which provide specific services for the county.
The commissioners reviewed each organization’s request and discussed whether any increases were warranted as they are trying to trim spending.
York County Commissioner Chairman Daniel Grotz went through the different organizations’ requests, noting CASA asked for $3,000 more than last year which would be a 7.1% increase. He said the Blue Valley Community Action request was the same as last year, as was request from Blue Valley Behavioral Health. Hope Crisis Center was asking for an additional $1,500 (a 11.5% increase) and York Adopt A Pet was asking for $500 more than last year (a 10% increase). Henderson was asking for the same amount as last year regarding ambulance services and the Kilgore Library in York was asking for the same allocation as last year. He also noted how the York County Development Corporation (YCDC) was asking for an increase somewhere in the realm of 3-5% and the Southeast Nebraska Development District (SENDD) was asking for the same amount as last year.
“CASA has a great piece of real estate, with the office we provide for them, for free, in the courthouse,” Commissioner Randy Obermier said. “This is a great office, upstairs, so I’m fine with staying flat with them.
“And when it comes to Adopt A Pet, their service is statutorily required for us and that’s not a huge request for an increase, especially because we are not in the dog catching business,” Obermier said.
“I’d be fine with all of that, staying flat with the organizations and then giving that small increase to Adopt A Pet,” Grotz responded.
There was some discussion about giving additional money to Region V, as the institution had requested (which would be above what is statutorily required) and Commissioner Deb Robertson asked if federal opioid settlement money (which has already been allocated to the county) could be used to give that additional request to Region V. That matter is being looked into.
“Now to YCDC and SENDD,” Grotz said. “SENDD is flat and we are fine with that. YCDC asked for a 3-5% increase. We were funding YCDC at $80,000 a year and then a few years ago we reduced the contribution some. We are behind the city currently (in the amount provided) but everything in the city is also in the county. I’d be fine with some sort of increase. I’d say stay near the 3% mark because we’ve held others to that level of increase. But as we have said before, if inheritance tax ever goes away in the state of Nebraska, it will be very, very hard for us to give funds to these organizations.”
Commissioner Andy Bowman said he “struggles with any increase for YCDC. Some of my constituents say we should give them zero. Lisa (Hurley) is very good at a lot of things, but the way there is influence on that organization and influence coming from the outside, I don’t like it.” He alleged past influence from the Omaha Public Power District during the solar zoning debate and the use of tax dollars to fund YCDC while the organization supported OPPD’s K-Junction solar project. “I may be the only one that feels this way.”
“I hear you, I hear what you are saying,” Grotz said to Bowman. “Are you thinking their current level of funding is good?”
“I definitely don’t see an increase,” Bowman said. “It’s a lot of money when we don’t see the direction of that organization. It’s not directly helping the citizens of York County, like CASA does or the library. I could live with leaving YCDC’s funding the same.”
Obermier noted “it’s hard for us to know all the details involved in the economic development process.”
“I’ve already shared with them my concerns about the budget and I’m fine with staying at the level YCDC is at now, without an increase, that is fine,” Grotz said.
“And Lisa (Hurley) understands this is inheritance tax money and it’s very volatile right now?” Robertson asked.
“Yes, they do,” Grotz said.
The commissioners continued to talk about the budget, as they changed amounts and altered line items.
At the end of the day (a literal business day, as they were in session nearly eight hours), Grotz said to the board, “You want to hear the sad news? We only found $960,000 in savings. It’s sad but it’s not a surprise.”
“Well, we still found a million,” York County Clerk Mary Melby added.
“Yes, but we still need to find another million,” Grotz responded.
“I don’t think we will, so we have to find more revenue,” Obermier added.
“Well, we are on hold right now, se need to see our final valuation,” Grotz said.
“And we need to set the wages so we know where we are at,” Melby noted.
“To me, we have to know the number, of where we are and what we need to get to within our authority to increase over last year,” Obermier said.
Grotz said with another million dollars left to be found or cut, he didn’t know what they should do with raises for employees.
Robertson suggested operating expenses be cut for departments so increases for salaries and wages could take place in order to keep employees (with the department heads then figuring out ways to run their operations with the reduction in operating expenses).
The matter of wages and salaries will be undertaken once again when the county board holds its next meeting.
 

​YORK – The York County Board will resume the long, ongoing conversation regarding the budget for the 2026-27 fiscal year and county employee wages when they reconvene in regular session on Tuesday, Sept. 1.
They are scheduled to adopt resolutions to set wages of county employees (those not working under an elected official) and having another budget workshop as they work to trim over $1 million in spending (or finding alternative revenue to cover it).
They will also talk about the position of zoning administrator.
As the board of equalization, they consider a valuation protest and act on property protests from the over/under listing.
The public is welcome to attend the meeting, which will start at 8:30 a.m., in the commissioners’ meeting room located on the main floor of the York County Courthouse, next to the clerk’s office.

Editor’s note: This is part of an ongoing series about the county’s budget, after the commissioners went through each department and line item, looking for savings and cuts, in an effort to remove $2.6 million in tax asking 
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Editor’s note: This is another installment in a series regarding county budget formulation. This installment focuses on the budgets for law enforcement.
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Editor’s note: This is the second installment in a series of stories about the York County Commissioners’ long conversation this past week regarding the county’s budget and the need to trim $2.6 million in tax asking in order to comply with authority regulations. 
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