YORK – Change of valuation notices have been mailed out for the 2026 assessment year, according to the York County Assessor’s office.

​YORK – People who are interested in running for seats on their local village boards have summer deadlines to follow if they want to be on the General Election ballot in November.
The following are the village seats which are up for election this year, in York County, as well as the current list of those who have already filed to run:

• Village of Benedict: The seats of Robert Jensen and Miranda Martin are up for election. So far, the candidates which have filed are Bob Jensen and Aaron Reetz.
• Village of Bradshaw: The seats of LJ McCormick and Terrence Werth are up for election. So far, the candidates which have filed are McCormick and Werth.
• Village of Gresham: The seats of Conner Luettel and Kim Sheehan are up for election. So far, the candidates which have filed are Luettel, Sheehan and Ted Beck.
• Village of Lushton: The seats of Caleb Weisheit and Kathy Hall are up for election. So far, no candidates have filed.
• Village of McCool: The seats of Tom Hoarty and Sandra Browitt are up for election. Both have filed to run again.
• Village of Thayer: The seats of Dustin Drake and Daryl Foutz are up for election. So far, Drake is the only candidate to have filed, so far.
• Village of Waco: The seats of Rick Pfeifer and Don Copeland are up for election. Both have filed to run again.

For these particular races, incumbents must file by July 15 and non-incumbents must file by Aug. 3.
Filings can be done at the clerk/election offices, which are located on the main floor of the York County Courthouse.
 

​YORK – This past week, York County Assessor Kurt Bulgrin asked the county commissioners to terminate the county’s current contract with Sam-Surveying and Mapping as the Vanguard company (who the county recently signed with for other services) also offers mapping for no extra cost.
“In putting my budget together, I looked at ways to make things more accessible to the public,” Bulgrin said. “Our mapping system, with Vanguard we pretty much have the same information and getting rid of Sam and doing more with Vanguard would save money.”
To terminate this contract, the company has to have a 30-day notice.
The savings would be $6,100, which Bulgrin said could be used in different ways to make this office more efficient and make more online services available to the public.
“I just couldn’t justify this mapping contract when we already had that service now, with Vanguard.”
The commissioners agreed to postpone the decision until further information is gathered about the options Vanguard software systems has and the options the roads department software has.
 

YORK – It’s that time of year again when the valuation protest process is starting.

​YORK – Last year, the York County Commissioners, sitting as the York County Board of Equalization, held nearly 200 valuation protests and declared judgment on all of those protests.
Of those, the York County Assessor’s office disagreed with the values set by the board of equalization when it came to nine parcels. The assessor filed appeals with the Nebraska Tax Equalization Commission (TERC).
This week, the commissioners reversed their earlier decisions, now agreeing with the assessor – thereby erasing the need for TERC hearings.
Commissioner Chairman Daniel Grotz explained how their options were to leave the nine valuations as had been set (thereby going through the TERC appeal process) or agreeing with the assessor (thereby changing the valuations and avoiding the TERC appeal process).
The commissioners voted in favor of changing the values, in agreement with the assessor’s office – Commissioner Andy Bowman voted no.
The owners of these nine parcels will be notified of the changes.
 

​YORK – While York County unfortunately continues to see higher (even “record-breaking”) number of kids in the court system, the good news is that the highest number of Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA) volunteers is being seen here right now as well.

​YORK – In a news release, the Omaha Public Power District has announced it has signed an agreement with Nebraska-based Sandhills Energy which is taking ownership of the proposed K-Junction Solar project in York County. 

​YORK – York County officials – from the roads department and the commissioners – are encouraging driving safety, especially at intersections, following an accident last week involving a pickup and a motorgrader owned by the county.
In that accident, which happened at the intersection of East 25th Street and North Delaware Avenue, the driver of the pickup failed to stop at the stop sign and collided with the motorgrader.
Greg Heine, from the roads department, said Tuesday, during the commissioners’ meeting, how “just as a reminder to all of us, and the public, please watch your intersections. Our maintainer driver is OK, we haven’t had an update on the pickup driver recently. But we just all need to remember to slow down and make sure to stop and yield at intersections.”
They also noted how caution at intersections will soon become even more imperative as the crops grow tall.
While the county employee was not seriously injured, the last official update (from the York County Sheriff’s Office) regarding the status of the pickup driver was that he was critical but stable condition.
Commissioner Daniel Grotz also noted the need for extra attention when driving so accidents like this can be avoided. “We are just asking everyone to be aware, be careful.”
 
 

YORK – The York County Commissioners have been busy beyond the board room, as they each do committee work and budget work is starting for the year.