Brian Hurter News Today

THE ISSUE

Lancaster County Sheriff Chris Leppler wanted a reception area in his courthouse office, so he had one built.

Lancaster County Sheriff Chris Leppler wanted a reception area in his courthouse office, so he had one built.

Government workers are sometimes portrayed as quiet heroes, the people behind the scenes who do the hard work of running elections, court hearings and crucial social services. And they do

Lancaster County’s board of commissioners on Wednesday approved a $168 million budget for 2022. The Republican chairman, Josh Parsons, boasted that property tax rates won’t change under the plan –

Lancaster County Republicans easily maintained their dominance of county government Tuesday, winning all three open row office races by double-digit margins.

“I’m pretty reserved about this budget,” said Lehman, a Democrat who worked as a budget analyst for the state before winning election to county leadership. “It is not surprising, given COVID-19, that the county was not able to put together a structurally balanced budget for 2021.” Structural balance in a budget is when ongoing expenditures — those occurring every year — are fully funded by revenue sources that occur every year, like taxes. Lehman’s concer...