Lancaster supervisors adopt 5-cent real-estate tax increase and approve FY27 budget

The Lancaster County Board of Supervisors voted May 28 to set the real-estate tax rate at $0.60 per $100 of assessed value — a 5-cent increase the board had advertised during the budget process — and to adopt and appropriate the fiscal year 2027 county general fund and capital improvement budget.

Don (county staff) reviewed the legal requirement to fix tax rates before the fiscal-year start and explained Lancaster’s practice of fixing tax rates by ordinance. The advertised increase was chosen to help cover about $2 million in annual debt-service increases linked to the new school project and county parks improvements. The tax ordinance was opened for public comment; resident Charlie Costello told the board he supported the modest increase to keep projects and services funded.

After the tax ordinance vote, supervisors approved the FY27 budget and appropriations. The adopted budget lists total expenditures and includes a lump-sum appropriation to the school system of $21,976,919, a 3% pay increase for full-time employees effective July 1, and county absorption of a 7% health insurance cost increase so employees pay no additional premiums. The budget also reflects a $232,000 allocation to add full-time EMS staff to a hazardous-duty retirement supplement intended to aid recruitment and retention.

The board heard and approved a package of routine consent and consideration-docket items and voted to match the General Assembly’s 2% compensation-board-funded bonus with an equal county-funded supplement so pay increases are equalized across county positions; county staff reported the net local cost after reimbursement.

What happens next: The adopted tax rate and budget take effect with the new fiscal year; staff will implement payroll changes, appropriate funds and monitor revenue to ensure the safeguards in the appropriation resolution are observed.