Cambria County audit stirs concern over debt

Report on county finances comes up clean, but spending draws criticism

EBENSBURG -- Despite a clean report, the findings in Cambria County's 2025 audit caused concerns about the county's debt and spending habits.

During the county commissioners' meeting Thursday, Wessel and Co. shareholder Meghan Freidhof presented the audit, which shows Cambria County had an operating deficit of $1.8 million in 2025.

Even though the county had sufficient cash to get through last year, Controller Ed Cernic Jr. claimed that's only because the commissioners obtained a draw loan to pay up to $8.5 million in unfunded debt.

That debt is reflected in the audit, which shows the county's net outstanding debt -- the amount of money it owes on bonds and loans -- increased from $45.2 million in 2024 to $52.8 million in 2025.

Cernic said the county has a spending problem and unless officials find a way to control spending or increase revenues, the county could find itself in the same position at the end of this year as it did in 2025.

However, commissioners Scott Hunt, Keith Rager and Chief Clerk Alex Ashcom rebutted that claim, noting they monitor the county's finances every day and don't see any cause for panic.

The audit shows the county's unassigned fund balance has decreased through the years. According to the audit, it was about $28.9 million in 2021; $30.7 million in 2022; $15.3 million in 2023; $6.6 million in 2024; and $3.8 million in 2025.

Cernic said he believes the trend is moving the wrong direction. However, Hunt said the trend needs additional context, noting the county's net position increased from 2021-23 due to American Rescue Plan Act funding that was available at the time.

"Cambria County has never had, with the exception of when American Rescue money was sitting in our bank account, that much money," Hunt said, referring to the county's unassigned fund balance totals from 2021-23.

In a statement, Commissioner Tom Chernisky said he agrees with Cernic, noting he believes the county's finances "remain in serious trouble."

Deficit spending led to a two-notch downgrade of Cambria County's S&P Global bond rating from an A to BBB+, making future borrowing more expensive and increasing pressure on taxpayers, Chernisky said.

"Past administrations had a team effort, working with the controller, department heads and our financial partners to cut costs and help lead Cambria County to its first S&P 'A' bond rating in more than 30 years," Chernisky said.

"Every dollar was scrutinized, every investment was expected to deliver results and every day was a budget day with accountability -- no hand-delivered contracts, plus continuous work with public private partnerships to expand Cambria County's economy," Chernisky said.

Hunt said there are no current numbers or trends that indicate the county is in bad financial shape. He and Rager said they're working to keep spending in line and have done so by not filling multiple positions.

"There's nothing at this point telling me or showing me that we are going to be in the position that we were in last year, which is why we made the difficult decision that we made," Hunt said, referring to the commissioners' decision to raise taxes last year.

That action corrected the county's "revenue problem" and has put the county in a better position today than it was last year at this time, according to Ashcom.

"By the beginning of August last year, we had about $3 million in liquidity on hand. We're projecting to have about $8 million, which is directly in line with what we projected with the tax increase," Ashcom said.

"Every day we're continuing to monitor our finances and our position throughout the rest of the year ... and I don't see any cause for panic at this time," Ashcom added.

Rager said he and Hunt are trying to secure a grant from the state Department of Community and Economic Development to hire a financial firm to come in and help officials put budgets together and decide what financial steps to take.

"This has never been done in the county," Rager said, adding he's discussed the idea since the beginning of the year.

"We are addressing our financial (concerns)," he added. "We hear our taxpayers loud and clear, and we're doing everything we can."

Other business

Outside of the audit, Thursday's meeting saw the commissioners approve a proclamation for pretrial, probation and parole appreciation week as well as standard contracts and personnel actions.

One of the contracts was for REACH's school-based clinical mental health counseling program, which is administered by the Cambria County Drug & Alcohol Program.

Program Administrator Fred Oliveros said the contract is a two-year extension of the county's opioid settlement project, for which they've placed master's-level clinical mental health counselors in the county's high schools since the 2022-23 school year.

The initiative itself dates back to 2018 when the Drug & Alcohol Program completed its needs assessment that included discussions with people in long-term recovery, Oliveros said, adding what they learned was that mental health needs contributed to substance abuse.

When the county received the settlement, commissioners at the time reached out to the program for guidance on how they could best use the funding, to which Oliveros and his team suggested placing clinicians in schools to eliminate potential barriers to access, such as transportation or insurance issues, he said.

Since 2022-23, there have been a total of 1,743 referrals to the program, with 388 referrals made in the 2025-26 school year, Oliveros said.

Oliveros said officials know the program has made a local impact because the Pennsylvania Youth Survey indicates lifetime use of alcohol, marijuana and vaping in the county has decreased with each subsequent survey. The survey is conducted every two years by students, beginning in sixth grade, and is used to assess attitudes and behaviors related to substance use, mental health and school climate.

"If you look at the bar graph, it looks like steps on a ladder going down,"

Oliveros said. "We're really excited about that."

Northern Cambria High School Principal Lisa Prebish said it's reassuring to her that some students are walking through the school's doors in the summertime to speak with someone in the program.

"It has been an incredible resource for our counselors who are honestly overwhelmed on many days with all the things that are going on in our students' lives, so we are grateful and thankful for the support," Prebish said.

Rager, a former Forest Hills School Board member, said the REACH program is "phenomenal."

By helping students become familiar with mental health resources and eliminating the stigma of working with counselors early on, the program can have a long-term effect on people seeking those resources after they graduate, Chernisky said.

Chief clerk resigns

Among the people removed from the county's payroll Thursday was Ashcom, who has served as the county's chief clerk for about two and a half years. His resignation is effective Aug. 1.

Ashcom said he accepted another position in Swarthmore Borough, Delaware County.

He thanked the commissioners for the "tremendous opportunity" to learn how county government works and said "it's been an honor and privilege" serving the county during his time there.

"I knew walking in the door I would have a great number of highly-qualified colleagues; I didn't expect that I would make so many friends," Ashcom said. "I hope that I've contributed to helping move the county forward in a positive direction."

Chernisky said the commissioners are currently accepting applications for the position.

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