By DEBRA HAIGHT
BCR Correspondent
ST. JOSEPH, MI – Berrien County Commissioners ended 2025 with action on a number of matters, ranging from the 2026 budget to strategic planning for the new year and beyond.
Commissioners heard from Finance Director Jake Litaker who gave details both about the final 2025 amended budget and the new budget for 2026. He reported that the 2025 budget with transfers in and out will end the year with a small surplus rather than a deficit.
He said transfers out of the general fund will go to broadband work and deferred maintenance projects. Transfers in will come from the contingency fund and include money for employee health insurance costs and mobile Computer Aided Dispatch (CAD) purchases.
County Commissioners decided to make the mobile CAD purchase this year in order to save more than $114,000. The county is embarking on the mobile CAD project in partnership with local municipalities in an effort to improve emergency service first responders dispatch throughout the county.
“At the end of all of that, we will not use $2.1 M of fund balance,” Litaker said. “Instead of drawing it down, we will grow the fund balance by $23,392. The fund balance at the end of 2025 is estimated to be 39.5 percent instead of 36 percent of expenditures.”
Litaker also reviewed the budget sessions conducted through the fall. He said county staff had proposed a 2026 budget initially that would use $1.125 million of fund balance with revenue of $79.9 million and expenditures of $81.068 million. By the second budget meeting, Litaker said the proposed budget had eliminated positions and used economic development funds for Berrien Bus, which got the deficit down to $747,000.
“Then on Nov. 20, you said you wanted a balanced budget and we did that by more elimination of positions and also fully defunding all vacancies at the Juvenile Center,” he said. “The extra savings from fully defunding the juvenile vacancies have now gone to the contingency fund in case something changes.”
In summary, Litaker said that the new budget eliminates 29 positions, makes departmental budget cuts and reduces the transfer to the health department.
County Administrator Brian Dissette emphasized that the eliminated positions were all vacant positions and that no one currently employed by the county is being laid off. He added that he’s made it clear to Trial Court officials that the county needs to see a plan on the future of the Juvenile Center if the Trial Court wants to add back some juvenile center positions.
The 2026 budget does include pay raises for county elected officials, appointed officials and non union employees which were approved in separate actions. All three groups will see a 2.8 percent wage hike in the new year.
The County Clerk, Drain Commissioner, Register of Deeds, and County Treasurer will each receive $98,656 in 2026. The Sheriff will get $127,575, while the Prosecuting Attorney will get $156,488.
Commissioners spent the end of their Dec. 18 meeting talking about strategic planning for 2026 and beyond. Dissette reported that the Michigan State University Extension Service staff have volunteered to work with the county board as they tackle strategic planning.
A tentative schedule was mentioned of using fifth Thursdays when the county board normally doesn’t meet to do the strategic planning sessions. Dissette said MSU Extension staff said they could have a proposed plan available for the board’s review by late April.
“I would love to look at engaging with them,” County Board Vice-Chair Teri Freehling said. “A lot of our current plan sunsets with the American Rescue Plan Act funds; it would be good to talk about our next objectives.”
County Commissioner Robert Harrison noted that the strategic planning should go beyond just the county government but county wide issues. “There are great concerns over continued population loss, the lack of educational attainment by some parts of the community and the lack of new employers coming to community,” he said.
“The environment we operate in should have some consideration; it might help us to see what our priorities as a co government should be,” he added. “If the county as a whole is not doing well, there’s no way the county government can function in a highly effective manner. There are some storm clouds on the horizon that we need to keep in mind.”
Commissioner Chokwe Pitchford agreed and added that the county also needs to be aware of the master plans of local municipalities.
“It is also extremely important for us to understand the master plans of the municipalities within the county and understand what their trajectory is,” he said. “So as we build what we want to do, we can see where we can help, and kind of fill in the gaps where they are or push projects where the county can be helpful.”
County Board Chairman Mckinley Elliott hearkened back to a past strategic planning session in the early 1990s that involved other elected officials, county employees, and members of the community. “We tried to make it a clearing house for gathering information and hopefully arriving at consensus on priorities,” he said.
The County Board will next meet on Thursday, Jan. 8 at 8:35 a.m. for the annual organizational meeting at the County Administration Building in St. Joseph. No Committee of the Whole or Board of Commissioners meeting are expected to be held that day. Most county board meetings are available on the county’s YouTube channel.