Penobscot County projected to be on budget for 2026

By Kasey Turman, Bangor Daily News Staff

Penobscot County is projected to stay on budget in 2026 for the first time in years. 

If the projections hold, it would be the first time in a handful of years when the county has not had to pull from its general funds to operate.

The majority of county departments, including the jail, are near 50% of their budgeted spending as of June 30, according to documents shared with the Bangor Daily News. Costs and revenues don’t occur evenly throughout the year, meaning even departments that are off that pace are still projected to come in around the budgeted amount, County Treasurer Glenn Mower said.

A few departments — including human resources, administration and finance — may go over budget. That’s because the county hired a new administrator and a financial consulting firm, Dirigo Strategic Advisors, to help complete multiple delayed audits and move the county to a fiscal-year system.

“We’re trying to get three audits done in one year. Which, they’re 20 grand a piece,” Mower said.

The 2023 audit was completed in March after a months-long delay. An audit for 2024 will be presented to County Commissioners Andre Cushing, Dave Marshall and Dan Tremble in August, and it’s possible the 2025 audit will be finished before the end of the year, Mower said.

If projections for this year’s spending are correct, it would be the first time in years that the county has stuck to a budget drafted by county officials. In previous years, Penobscot County’s costs outpaced budgeted expenses, forcing them to deplete their fund accounts. Last year alone the Penobscot County Jail overspent its budget by roughly $3.5 million. 

Much of the county’s success in keeping out of the red this year is because of a finance department headed by Finance Director Brenda Palmer, Mower said. Palmer joined the county in 2025 after years of turnover in the department and has worked with Dirigo Strategic Advisors to evaluate its spending, he said.

Penobscot County has spent millions of dollars from its general fund since 2021 because state allocated funding has not kept pace with the cost of running the Penobscot County Jail. County officials did not increase the jail’s budget as costs jumped, creating a multimillion-dollar shortfall.

There’s a possibility that the county will end the year with a surplus, Mower said. The state awarded additional jail funding for counties in April and Penobscot County got roughly $400,000, Mower said.

With that revenue, and the jail being under budget, the county is running with a roughly $700,000 surplus, according to budget documents. 

It’s unclear what would happen to that money at the end of the year. The state statute requires funds from specific accounts to be given back to residents in the next year’s budget, but county officials are unsure if that law applies to this money, Mower said.

“The statute’s kind of wishy-washy on that. So if you do have a surplus, then you’re supposed to give it back to the taxpayer,” Mower said.

Commissioners Dan Tremble and Dave Marshall said this year’s spending is a good sign but there will still need to be changes moving forward for the county to be stable.

“It’s good and bad. I mean, we were hoping maybe to be under budget and over revenue and get ahead on some expenses because even though there was a huge increase this year in the county tax rate, it was a very lean budget,” Tremble said.