​YORK – The “pink postcard meeting” for Heartland School and county officials to talk about their budgets and increases in tax asking will be held in the basement of the York County Courthouse, starting at 6:01 p.m.
On Tuesday, the county commissioners talked about the upcoming meeting, with York County Commissioner Chairman Daniel Grotz noting “at least one of us, from the board, has to attend and all of us can attend if we want to. I also think it would be nice for the county’s elected officials and department heads – especially if their budgets are seeing large increases – to attend as well.”
“Yes, if departments have big increases, the heads of those department need to be there to take questions,” said Commissioner Andy Bowman.
Commissioner Randy Obermier said the department heads and elected officials “have been invited to attend and are strongly encouraged to be there.”
Obermier said he’s been thinking about the county’s budget “and where we are right now, compared to the city of York or the York School District (as they do not have to participate in the pink postcard process).”
He was referring to the fact the county has to participate in the pink postcard process because the tax asking increase is beyond what is allowed without the public hearing, according to new state law. “Growth was a huge factor for the city and the school, that was huge for them. Most of the growth in the county was in the City of York and our growth went down substantially. In thinking about what is sustainable, going down the road, we have $3.7 million in the inheritance fund now.”
He also noted a substantial amount has been coming in, as well. And some money will be returned to the inheritance fund, as it had been used in the past with the intention for it to be paid back from other funds.
“I would be on board with using funds from the inheritance fund in order for us to give a little bit of tax relief,” Obermier said.
Grotz noted how the county’s budget hearing will be held Sept. 29 “and we could make adjustments then to take money from the inheritance fund” in order to cut the tax asking.
It was noted how the county is not required to hold a separate budget hearing since the pink postcard meeting fulfills that obligation, but all the commissioners agreed they wanted to have a separate budget hearing in the future.
“I’m fine with the expenditures right now; the only adjustment, I’m thinking, would be adding to the revenue in there, by taking money from the inheritance fund,” Obermier said.
Regarding the postcards received by property owners, it was noted how the state determined the specific language to be used on those meeting notifications.
“But the way some people are reading the pink postcards, I’ve heard from some where they are thinking they have to be at the pink postcard meeting, they are required to be, and that is not the case,” Obermier said. “I looked at the postcard I received and I don’t see that, but some people are concerned because they can’t be there.”
“Yes, the language on the cards is confusing and doesn’t correctly reflect what the end tax bill is going to be,” Grotz added.
The public is encouraged to attend the pink postcard meeting on Wednesday evening, but property owners are not required to be there if they do not want to be. The commissioners said the chairman will be explaining the budget and they will open up a time for questions and answers.
 
 

​YORK – The York County Commissioners will be meeting in regular session on Tuesday, Sept. 15, with a relatively light agenda.
Then, on Wednesday, Sept. 16, they will be participating in a “pink postcard” meeting to discuss the need for an increased tax asking for the 2026-27 fiscal year.
During Tuesday’s regular meeting – which will start at the normal time, 8:30 a.m., and be held in the regular location (in the county commissioners’ meeting room), they will discuss a grant for the diversion program, consider removing funds which are no longer in use and handle regular points of business.
Then on Wednesday, at 6:01 p.m., in the basement meeting room of the courthouse, they will be participating in the “pink postcard” meeting.
They will also be joined by representatives of the Heartland School District, as that taxing entity will also be statutorily required due to their increase in tax asking.
For this evening meeting, there is no item on the agenda 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 by state law.
Nebraska’s Property Tax Request Act (LB644) was passed by the state legislature in 2021 and took effect in 2022. The act requires pink postcards to be sent to each parcel owner (in a taxing sub-district) which includes details about proposed increases and location information for a special hearing. The expense of the postcards is covered by the political subdivision holding the hearing.
 

​YORK – It was decided this past week by the York County Commissioners that they would be switching up a committee assignment when it comes to economic development.
Each of the five commissioners is assigned to several different outside committees, as representatives of the county.
Commissioner Chairman Daniel Grotz has been the representative for the county on the executive committee of York County Development Corporation.
“I talked to Lisa (YCDC Director Hurley) and the bylaws do call for the county to have a representative,” Grotz said. “In talking with Andy (Commissioner Bowman), I feel it might be a good time to switch up the representation and Andy said he’s willing to serve on that board.”
“I have no reservations as this was something I wanted to be a part of when I first was appointed to the county board,” Bowman said. “I feel it would be a good idea to do now.”
“Sure, that would be fine,” Commissioner Randy Obermier said, noting he served on the YCDC executive committee before Grotz took that role. “We are just altering the committee assignments.”
The commissioners all voted in favor of changing the representation on the YCDC board, with Bowman abstaining.
 
 

​YORK – The York County Commissioners continue their long, long conversation about how to cut spending – or find new sources of revenue – in order to pare back the budget for the 2026-27 fiscal year.

​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.
 

​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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