SKOWHEGAN — The Somerset County Board of Commissioners signed off on a budget for the coming year that comes with a zero overall increase to property taxes.

The commissioners gave the fiscal year 2026 budget its final seal of approval at their regular meeting Wednesday in Skowhegan.

The Somerset County Budget Committee reviewed the commissioners’ initial budget proposal and approved it April 28 following a public hearing. The committee made no changes and sent it back to the Board of Commissioners to vote on its adoption.

Wednesday’s final vote was unanimous; with one commissioner absent, the four commissioners attending the meeting voted in favor.

“It’s a go,” said Chairman Robert Sezak, who represents Fairfield and Norridgewock.

Spending in the approved budget totals approximately $11.72 million for the jail and $13.46 million for all other departments, budget documents show.

The departments include the nonjail divisions of the Sheriff’s Office, emergency management agency, 911 communications center, registry of deeds, probate court, and district attorney’s office. The total does not include the unorganized territories’ budget, which came in just under $3 million and was sent to the state for approval in December.

Of $25,176,513 in spending, property taxes will fund about $15 million, not including a 1% overlay to be added to the municipalities’ assessments, budget figures show. That amount, $14,996,031, is $44 less than the current year’s budget.

The slight decrease overall does not mean every Somerset County municipality will pay the same county assessment this year as it did last year. Each municipality’s share of the budget is based on its property valuation calculated by the state as a percentage of the county’s total valuation.

For example, Skowhegan’s assessment in the approved budget would decrease from this year, while Madison’s would increase, Somerset County Administrator Tim Curtis said in a previous interview.

The $14,996,031 in spending to be funded by taxation breaks down to exactly $6.9 million for the jail and approximately $8.10 million for the rest of the county departments. The $6.9 million for the jail is the same as the current year’s budget.

State law caps the amount a Maine county can increase taxes for funding its jail. Raising the cap was not necessary for this budget, as the overall jail spending plan stayed flat, in part due to improved staffing levels, Curtis said.

Curtis said the budget allocates about $130,000 in fund balance to offset taxation. The county has a plan to use fund balance over the next three years to keep overall tax increases under 3% during that time.

The approved budget also includes using about $713,000 in federal COVID-19 relief funds, Curtis said. Somerset County has used $9 million in the last four years, he said, and this is the last budget that will include those federal dollars. In the approved budget, the funds are to be used to offset costs for Sheriff’s Office administration and at the county communications center.

Other revenue sources include the jail’s contract to house some federal inmates, which is set to increase from about $1.52 million to $1.73 million, records show.

Curtis said the only new positions are in the Sheriff’s Office: an 18th patrol deputy position and a quartermaster.

The only other new major expense, Curtis said, is the Axon camera system for the Sheriff’s Office. The five-year contract with Axon for body cameras, cruiser cameras and artificial intelligence technology that assists with report writing has a net increase of about $40,000 each year, compared to other camera technology previously in the budget.

The county paid a larger amount of the Axon contract up front out of the current year’s budget, as funds were available, Curtis said. The county also signed another contract with Axon for data storage software for the district attorney’s office, also paying that cost up front out of the current budget.