Blair County is staring down an estimated $10.4 million deficit in its 2027 budget, even after commissioners trimmed nearly $1.2 million from department spending requests during a series of sessions this month. The gap leaves officials with a hard choice heading into their next meeting: find millions more in cuts or dip further into the county's reserves.
County commissioners Laura Burke and Amy Webster have been working through weeks of department presentations to pare down spending requests, according to Altoona Mirror. Blair County's finance office had projected 2027 revenues of $53,739,987 against expense requests totaling roughly $65,340,329, a mismatch that set the stage for the budget crunch. After the commissioners cut about $1,192,412 from those requests over three budget sessions, the revised expense total stood at $64,147,917, trimming the projected deficit to approximately $10,407,929.
That still leaves commissioners $9,215,518 short of a balanced budget if they choose not to tap the county's unassigned general fund, the same reporting shows. Using that fund to cover the gap would leave Blair County with an estimated year-end unassigned balance of about $6,899,515 for 2027, down sharply from a projected $17,307,444 balance heading into 2026.
Vacancy Rates Become a Key Budget Lever
Much of the back-and-forth has centered on vacancy-rate assumptions. Burke and Webster agreed to hold the salary and wage vacancy rate at 15% for 2027, the same level the county has used for the past three years, per the Altoona Mirror's reporting. Wages subject to that 15% rate, which include elected officials and department heads, totaled $15,139,072, even as actual wage spending has climbed from $16,098,184 in 2024 to $18,035,848 in 2025.
The medical vacancy rate proved a tighter call. Finance official Lindsay Dempsie told commissioners the rate could be set as high as 10%, which would total $5,150,577, or more conservatively at 7%, totaling $5,322,263, according to the same report. Webster favored the more conservative option, and she and Burke ultimately set the 2027 medical vacancy rate at 7%. That marks a shift from recent years, when the rate was set at 8% in 2025 and 7.5% in 2024, with 2026's medical vacancy amount projected at $5,137,620 under a 10% rate.
Dempsie noted that the county budgets single health insurance coverage for every vacant position, even though not every employee who fills a role chooses single coverage, the Altoona Mirror reported. Some employees opt for family coverage instead, which costs roughly twice as much as single coverage. Dempsie also told commissioners she expects medical costs to decline next year, though that projection excludes retirees and the Samaritan Fund because of their large upfront costs.
Pension Costs Add to the Pressure
Rising pension obligations are compounding the budget squeeze. The Blair County Retirement Board has recommended increasing the county's 2027 pension-plan contribution by nearly $304,000, pushing it from almost $6.08 million to $6.38 million, according to a separate Altoona Mirror report. That contribution has climbed dramatically since 2016, when commissioners allocated just $1 million toward the pension fund. An actuarial report cited in that reporting projects the pension fund's liabilities will keep rising through 2034 before declining through 2051, when the plan is projected to be fully funded.
A WJAC report published Nov. 20, 2024, said Blair County commissioners were working to finalize the following year's budget, referring to 2025. In a separate, later report, the Altoona Mirror said Commissioner David Kessling was absent from one recent budget meeting, leaving Burke and Webster to work through the vacancy-rate decisions together.
Other Pennsylvania Counties Face Similar Squeezes
Blair County isn't alone in grappling with a 2027 budget shortfall. Dauphin County unveiled a proposed $220 million spending plan that closes a projected $28 million deficit without raising property taxes, according to PennLive, relying on roughly $13 million in departmental cuts, about $6.6 million in additional revenue, and a one-time transfer of $10.6 million in unrestricted gaming funds. Lackawanna County faced an almost $4 million preliminary 2027 deficit, a gap The Times-Tribune reports officials reduced through spending cuts and nonrecurring revenue sources. Lebanon County, meanwhile, was confronting a shortfall of more than $3.1 million, with commissioners weighing available funds, tax increases, or some combination of both, according to LebTown.
Blair County's commissioners are scheduled to hold their next budget session at 9 a.m. on Nov. 10 in the commissioners' public meeting room in the county courthouse basement. The budget cuts began in earnest on Oct. 20, and department heads spent weeks presenting their wants and needs to commissioners before the vacancy-rate decisions were finalized.
