LINCOLN COUNTY, Ore. — The Lincoln County Board of Commissioners on Wednesday unanimously adopted the county’s fiscal year 2025–26 budget and budgets for several special districts, closing the county’s final public hearings before the July 1 start of the new fiscal year.

By law the county must adopt a budget before the fiscal year begins; the board held public hearings June 18 and then moved to adopt the county general fund budget and separate budgets for the Lincoln County Extension Service District, the Solid Waste Disposal District, the Lincoln County Animal Services District, the Transportation Services District and the Siletz Area Enhanced Law Enforcement Services District.

Commissioners opened and closed each public hearing in sequence and heard no public testimony on the separate district budgets. Commissioner Walter Chuck moved to adopt the county’s fiscal year 2025–26 budget; Commissioner Casey Miller seconded. The motion passed unanimously. Subsequent district budgets were approved in the same manner, each by a single motion and second followed by a verbal aye vote from the three commissioners.

The board noted the budget timeline and that the June 18 meeting was the county’s last scheduled meeting before the July 1 deadline. Chair Claire Hall explained the hearing process and the need to complete the adoption so county services and district operations could continue uninterrupted into the next fiscal year.

What the board adopted at the meeting were the formal appropriations and levy categorizations necessary for county administration and for the separate service districts’ operations. Commissioners described the hearings as the final step after earlier budget committee meetings and presentations this spring.

No amendments or roll-call vote tallies were recorded in the public hearing record for the motions; each adoption was announced as approved unanimously with verbal “aye” votes from Hall, Miller and Chuck.

The board also set, without further action, that additional budget-related items (such as a pending drought declaration) could return to a future meeting for more information. The commissioners closed the budget items by saying the county’s budgeting obligation for another year had been completed.

Ending: The board’s adoption completes Lincoln County’s required legal step ahead of the July 1 fiscal-year start. Any follow-up adjustments, grant-related appropriations or detailed department spending plans will be handled through subsequent county processes and brought back to the board if they require official action.