Chickasaw Co. Supervisors Discuss Reducing Own Salaries During Budget Crunch

As Chickasaw County Supervisors make tough calls to balance the Fiscal Year 2025-26 budget, one money-saving cut doesn’t appeal to most Board members. 

The County needs to balance the budget for a preferred 25% ending fund balance by June 30, 2026. That allows the County sufficient funds to operate at the start the 2026-27 fiscal year on July 1, 2026, until tax revenues come in in Fall 2026. However, between its General Basic (BD) and General Service (GS) accounts, the County was projected to be short overall by almost $750,000. 

To close that gap, Supervisors have proposed staff cuts and trimming department budgets, with consideration also given to reducing County Courthouse hours. During their regular meeting March 10th, Supervisor Steven Breitbach offered another possibility for cost savings.

Other supervisors pushed back on the idea, with Supervisors Scott Cerwinske noting that, contrary to reports on social media, their job is not five-to-six hours a week. It was a sentiment echoed by Supervisor Travs Suckow.

First-term Supervisor Issac Carter says he’s also come to the same realization.

While the majority of Supervisors agreed not to cut their salaries, County Attorney David Laudner expressed concerns about the possibility that the Board could fail to get a majority vote to pass a final budget.

Meanwhile, Board chair Jacob Hackman cautioned that the state legislature is also looking at new tax-cutting options that would trim revenue generation for city and county governments even more next year.