COLDWATER, MI (WTVB) – Branch County’s 2027 Budget was formally approved by the Branch County Board of Commissioners on Tuesday.
Work on the budget began in August. It may be the earliest the Commissioners have approved the county’s spending plan for the next year. Up until recent years, Commissioners waited until the last meeting of the year before they took final action.
Branch County Administrator Frank Walsh said earlier this month the county is in a strong financial position as the 2027 General Fund Budget is over $1-point-9 million more than the previous year’s spending plan.
It is estimated to be $20,806,230 which is higher than the 2026 budget of $18,846,610.
Included is a $1 million expenditure for county facility improvements. Walsh says a budget surplus of over $226,000 is expected at the end of 2027.
Meanwhile, the 2027 annual budget for Branch County increased by two-point-eight percent to over $84 million. That budget is spread over the General Fund and 67 Special Funds. Included is a three percent across the board wage increase.
While the proposed 2027 General Fund budget is balanced without the use of fund balance, Walsh cautioned there are several one-time revenues embedded into the budget that are not stable sources of money such as opioid funds and the marijuana tax.
According to Walsh, over $4-point-3 million has been added to the county’s fund balance in the last three years.
In other business, the Commissioners formally hired the auditing firm of Yeo and Yeo on Tuesday for the 2026 to 2028 fiscal years.
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