2026 Elkhart County Budget approved

ELKHART COUNTY, Ind. — The 2026 Elkhart County budget was officially approved Thurs. afternoon in a 5-0 vote, set around 179 million dollars.  

At-Large Elkhart County Councilman Adam Bujalski said the initial request they got for the 2026 budget was about 190 million, but after working with county leaders and departments, they cut more than 11 million dollars from that, bringing it to the 179 million.  

“A lot of it was just being realists with the department heads… asking them what do you actually need. You know, we did add some positions because there’s a need… we have to look at the government as a business as well, so, some departments we added, some departments we asked to remove and just making sure that the headcount is appropriate for the county government so that way our constituents don’t see any loss of what they need,” said Bujalski.  

He said one of their biggest focuses was on efficiency and keeping the county running as it has been, with worries about possible incoming effects from Senate Enrolled Act-1 (SEA-1), the statewide reform to property taxes passed in April.  

“I wish other counties could work together as well as we do, between elected officials, different departments, department heads, commissioners and council. We don’t always agree on everything, but at the end of the day, I’m extremely happy where we ended up. Would I like it to be a little bit less? Yes, but mainly that’s just because of the unknown of what [SEA-1] is going to do, but our rainy-day fund is good, I know at the end of the year we’ll probably transfer more money back over there, so Elkhart County is in a really good position,” said Bujalski. 

To watch the entire meeting, click here.