News Photo by Steve Schulwitz Alpena County Administrator Jesse Osmer updates budget numbers on a whiteboard in his office while commissioner Dan Ludlow looks on. The county is expected to have a balanced budget again in 2026 without utilizing as much money from other funds as it has in the past.

ALPENA — For the second consecutive year, Alpena County is expecting to have a balanced budget for 2026 without having to use large amounts of money from its savings or having to layoff employees.

After biting the bullet last year and making cuts to help reel in a $1.6 million budget deficit, the county had a simpler time aligning revenues and expenses this year.

Alpena County Administrator Jesse Osmer said changes to how the individual department budgets are crafted allow for putting the final pieces on the general fund budget more easily and efficiently.

Osmer said in the early stages of the budget process, each commissioner works with department heads and combs through the budgetary needs of each department, line by line. Osmer said involving the commissioners in the department budget helps to reduce any waste and helps them to learn more about the operations in that particular office.

“It gives them a chance to ask questions about the department, what certain line items mean,” Osmer said. “Then the department heads will give the full board a budget presentation and we will weigh the information and data from the commissioners and the department heads and begin to put things together.”

For years, the county has had to utilize hundreds of thousands of dollars from its fund balance, or savings, to manage a budget shortfall. It was not uncommon in years past for a half a million dollars to be used out of savings, but this budget cycle, the county is only going to use $180,000. Osmer said the fund balance will remain at a healthy 30% of expenditures and provide some needed money for projects.

“That is about 5% higher than what we are required to do,” Osmer said.

A good portion of the $5.5 million the county received from the federal government’s American Rescue Plan Act was used to try to reduce budget shortcomings.

Osmer said smaller amounts are still needed, but overall, the fund balance, opiate settlement fund, and tax-revolving fund are in better shape. The ARPA money from the federal government has all been used.

“We are going to use some of the opiate money again this year, but only $63,000 which is much less than the $114,000 we used last year,” Osmer said. “But, we’re not just spending it. We are using it for very specific things like the jail nurse and things that the money was intended for.”

Osmer is hoping the days of deficits of over $1 million or more are in the rearview mirror and the budget will continue to stabilize. He said the tough decisions made last year are making a difference now.

“Making those tough decisions allowed us to take a pause that we needed and to get things in order and come up with a different approach,” he said. ” No stone was left unturned and we explored every aspect of the budget. We were literally discussing cuts as low as $300.”

The first reading of the budget is expected on Oct. 28 at the board of commissioners meeting and the second reading on Nov. 12. After that, it will go on public display and it could be adopted on Nov. 25.

Steve Schulwitz can be reached at 989-358-5689 or sschulwitz@TheAlpenaNews.com. Follow him on X @ss_alpenanews.com.