EBENSBURG — The Cambria County commissioners’ 2026 general fund budget is now balanced at $68.7 million after President Judge Linda Fleming granted the county’s request to increase its millage rate for the general purpose fund to 30 mills on Tuesday.

At a special meeting Dec. 23, the commissioners voted 2-1 to adopt the 2026 budget with a 6.75-mill tax increase, which county solicitor Ron Repak said is broken down into two separate funds — 5.5 mills for the general purpose fund and 1.25 mills for the debt service fund.

By adopting the budget, the commissioners were legally able to raise the debt service fund from four mills to 5.25 mills and raise the general purpose fund by half a mill from 24.5 mills to 25 mills.

Because the county sought to exceed the commonwealth’s 25-mill cap, officials had to justify the need for the general purpose fund’s remaining five mills during a hearing Monday and gain Fleming’s approval.

With the 6.75-mill tax increase in place, the total general purpose fund rate is set at 30 mills and the debt service fund rate is set at 5.25 mills. But there are other funds that county residents are taxed on, according to Alex Ashcom, Cambria County’s chief clerk.

Those funds include one mill for community college purposes, half a mill for county library purposes and half a mill for parks and playground purposes, Ashcom said.

That is why 2025 tax statements show a total rate of 0.0305, Ashcom said, noting the rate is cumulative of the five taxed funds, even though the 2026 increase only affects the county’s general purpose and debt service funds.

The new total rate reflected on 2026 tax bills will be 0.03725 — representing 37.25 total mills — for the average homeowner, Ashcom said.

Ashcom said the average homeowner’s property tax bill will increase $71.58 in 2026, which is about $6 per month.

County’s justification

During the hearing Monday, county officials cited several circumstances that contributed to their current financial position, including a decline in general fund revenues between 2020 and 2025; an increase in the inflation rate during the same time period; a sharp decline in revenues from assessed property values as a result of real estate tax appeals and the reassessment of Jackson Township and Westwood Plaza; and a continued decline in the county’s residential population.

According to Fleming’s ruling, the 2026 budget includes countywide decreases in personnel, benefits and other expenses. Ashcom testified that the commissioners cut $1.8 million in personnel and benefits and $1.6 million in operating costs.

The commissioners also conducted a “strategic” assessment of the county budget and used “creative solutions” to further trim expenses and increase revenues, Fleming said in her ruling.

Those measures include, but are not limited to, installing solar panels along Manor Drive to decrease electricity costs; accepting Immigration and Customs Enforcement detainees at the Cambria County Prison to increase revenue; transitioning county funds to alternate banking institutions to generate higher interest; and selling two dated county buildings to raise revenue and decrease expenses, Fleming said.

According to Ashcom, the two buildings the county hopes to sell are the former Information Technology building across from the Cambria County Courthouse, 209 South Center St., Ebensburg Borough, and the former domestic relations building, 499 Manor Drive, Cambria Township.

Ashcom said officials plan to install 10 to 15 acres of solar panels outside the Cambria County Prison by the third quarter of 2026. Officials are currently in the planning and design stage, and they hope to begin construction by next summer, he said.

According to Fleming, Ashcom testified credibly that there is “no other fiscally responsible way to approve the budget without increasing the millage rate.” The five mills under review for the county’s general purpose fund will raise about $5.8 million, Fleming said in her ruling.

If Fleming denied the county’s request, officials would be required to make $5.8 million in “draconian” budget cuts, requiring the elimination of “every noncritical service” and “substantial” cuts to each of the county’s 32 departments and operating organizations.

Those reductions would include cutting the county’s workforce by 10% to 20%, Fleming said. During the hearing Monday, Ashcom said cutting the county’s workforce any further would be “detrimental” to its day-to-day operations.

Additionally, Fleming noted the county’s current tax revenue anticipation note with First National Bank is contingent upon the county approving the 6.75-mill increase, including the five mills for general purposes.

During a press conference after the hearing Monday, Cambria County Controller Ed Cernic said he’s going to have a problem making the county’s payroll of $1.2 million if officials don’t receive the tax revenue anticipation note by next week.

Commissioners weigh in

Cambria County Commissioner Keith Rager said he appreciates Fleming ruling in a timely manner.

Rager said Monday’s hearing was “an eye-opener” for him, as several residents from throughout the county attended to oppose the increase.

But what many people don’t realize — or don’t want to acknowledge — is that Cambria County was “staring down the barrel of” a nearly $12 million deficit prior to raising taxes, he said.

A lot of the comments made by residents were asking for officials to further cut the budget, Rager said, adding, “You can’t cut $12 million. It’s too much.”

According to Rager, there hasn’t been a tax increase in Cambria County since 2016, and the economy “has gone the wrong way for the past decade, even more than that,” he said.

The county has been in a financial “hole” a lot longer than Rager has been a commissioner, he said.

“I understand the burden of the taxpayers. I saw that yesterday,” Rager said. “That bothers me more than anything, but we’ve got some hard facts to face.”

Prior to voting to approve the budget at the Dec. 23 meeting, Rager called for an audit of the county’s finances — something Rager has vowed will take place in the future.

“We’re going to examine every expenditure and every program, and we’re going to ask tough questions and look at everything,” Rager said. “I think we need to look at all of it.”

In a statement, Cambria County Commissioner Tom Chernisky noted that he opposed the tax increase. He said the commissioners need a better way of doing business.

“Cambria County is raising taxes due to a lack of strategic planning, resulting in the Hunt tax increase,” Chernisky said. “There is a better way to do business — sharpen our pencils, exercise fiscal responsibility and commit to long-term planning to fix the county’s finances.”

Attempts to reach President Commissioner Scott Hunt were not successful Tuesday.

Residents respond

Cambria County Farm Bureau President Marty Yahner said he and the farm bureau’s 480 member families are “very disappointed” with Fleming’s ruling.

“It’s going to be a larger burden on farmers because of our land base,” Yahner said. “(Farmers) have always paid a vastly disproportionate share of property taxes for counties and it’s even worse for school districts.”

Yahner said farmers also rent the land they farm on from other people, who may raise their rental rates as a result of the county tax increase, he said.

“That’s just another added cost that a lot of people don’t think about that will affect farmers like myself,” Yahner said, noting the Pennsylvania Farm Bureau has proposed a state policy to eliminate property taxes for farmers.

“County revenue should be generated by one’s ability to pay, not on what you own,” Yahner said.

Carissa Itle Westrick, director of business development at Vale Wood Farms, said she is also “disappointed” with Fleming’s ruling. But she will continue to provide the commissioners with her input to “right-size our county government.”

According to Itle Westrick, every business in the county is facing higher costs and Vale Wood Farms is no different.

Whether it’s the price of seed to plant corn, the price of jugs to put milk in or the price of items — like sugar and cocoa powder — to produce chocolate milk, everything is increasing in cost, she said.

“It’s just a challenging environment for businesses right now who are facing price increases in every direction,” Itle Westrick said. “So to add a property tax increase on top of that is just really bad timing.”

Johnstown resident John DeBartola said he believes there are expenditures that can be cut further, such as the $1 million the commissioners allocated to CamTran in the budget. He claimed other nonprofit organizations, such as Vision2025 and the Johnstown Area Regional Industries, could have had their allocations cut.

During Monday’s hearing, Ashcom addressed the CamTran allocation, stating the county is mandated to match 15% of the allocation it receives from the commonwealth for public transportation.

DeBartola also claimed his rights were violated during Monday’s hearing when Fleming limited him with only three minutes to question Ashcom about the county’s budget.

DeBartola said he’s considering the idea of filing an appeal to his motion to recuse, which he filed Monday morning before the hearing, claiming that Fleming had a conflict of interest in the hearing because she’s Facebook friends with President Commissioner Scott Hunt.

Fleming denied the claim Monday, stating she deactivated her Facebook account and is capable of ruling impartially.

“I’m actually kind of outraged that she silenced me and had a cellphone time me for exactly three minutes to rush me to ask questions about the largest tax increase in our history,” DeBartola said.

DeBartola said he thinks Monday’s hearing was “just a show for the community and the public.”

“They probably didn’t care what we had to say. They wanted the tax increase,” DeBartola said. “They’re not going to make cuts.”

Mirror Staff Writer Matt Churella is at 814-946-7520.