County CFO David Bound (right corner) and County Administrator Edwina Benites-LM (below seal) explain the unanticipated insurance rate increase to the County Commissionsers.
In March, the County Commission appeared excited to announce that it had adopted a “flat budget” for the fiscal year starting July 1, 2025 (FY 2026) — keeping spending in the county’s $41 million budget flat at current levels.
Unfortunately, the good news didn’t last. On May 15, the commissioners voted unanimously to add another $900,000 of expenses to the budget.
$350,000 of the change is due to an unexpected increase in insurance rates. During the initial budget planning, the county staff assumed a 4 percent increase in insurance expense, based on information from the county’s insurance consultant. In early May, the Commission staff reported that Highmark, the company that operates the county’s health insurance plan, was now proposing a 45 percent increase in its rates — a cost of roughly $1.5 million. At the May 15 Commission meeting, county staff presented alternatives which reduced the increase to a more manageable $350,000.
Later in the May 15 meeting, David Bound, the county’s chief financial officer, presented a separate expense revision of $569,078 that included funding for several positions that were not included in the March budget, including for a grant writer who the Commission hopes will improve its opportunities to identify and win new state and federal funding.
To keep the budget in balance, the Commissioners voted to reduce the amount assigned to the “contingency” line to offset the new expenses. This change will decrease the amount that will be available to “rollover” into the following year (FY2027) budget — potentially limiting the Commission’s ability to fund other projects next year.
Looking At Rollover Funds And Current Revenue
The overall budget for the current year (FY 2025) was flat relative to the prior year (FY 2024). Looking at the details of the budget, however, there are some pretty significant changes year-to-year.
Taking out the internal transfers and “rollover” funds, the current revenues have been slowly increasing year-to-year, from 34 million in FY 2024, to $34.48 million in FY2025 and a projected $34.59 million for FY 2026.
The corresponding numbers on the expense side have been following a different pattern. In FY 2024, the County reported $32.35 million in current expenses (excluding internal transfers and rollover allocations). In FY 2025, that expense number increased to $35.46 million. In FY 2026, the County budget shows $36.77 million in current expenses.
When the current expense budget increases faster than the current revenue budget, it means the County is using unspent surplus funds from prior years to fund the gap. The charts below (compiled from data filed with the West Virginia State Auditor) show the operating surpluses in FY 2023 and FY 2024 and the current operating deficits in FY 2025 and FY 2026.
