Berks County: $7.2M Budget Shuffle, $16M Heim Transfer

The Berks County Board of Commissioners meets Thursday, November 12, 2026, at 10 a.m. in the 13th-floor boardroom of the Berks County Services Center, 633 Court Street, Reading. The packet asks the board to move $7,169,686 between 2026 budget lines and add $3,584,166 in spending authority. Nearly all of the transfers shuffle money inside Children and Youth Services and Juvenile Probation to pay for placements through year-end; the largest appropriation takes $1,589,514 from general fund reserves for child-welfare costs the state will not reimburse; and the listing carries the first money to run 600 Penn Street "once building purchase is completed."

The board will also send $16,024,020 to the state in 2027 under a one-year agreement tied to a second one that puts an estimated $24,659,701 into Berks Heim, the county nursing home, and rewrite its rules for public participation in meetings without the new text in the packet.

$7.2 million in transfers, most of it child welfare

Resolution 350.2026 adopts the Nov. 6 listing from CFO Laura Jones (pp. 17-28); a transfer moves spending authority between lines, an appropriation adds it. Two bulk transfers account for $6,856,698 of the $7,169,686, by our arithmetic: Attachment #1 moves $3,558,809 of CYS "Wage & Benefit savings" into "purchased services" (p. 22), and Attachment #2 moves $3,297,889 between CYS and Juvenile Probation accounts "to provide for purchased services through year end" (pp. 18, 26), including a $132,433 revenue shift "between Act 148 & YDC revenues due to lower than projected YDC placements." The attachments name no providers.

Item 1 moves $97,898 of general fund contingency to Facilities, "Transferring contingency funds to provide for operating expense at 600 Penn once building purchase is completed" (p. 17). The packet gives no closing date or final price; see our 600 Penn tracker.

$3.6 million in appropriations: what the general fund covers

The largest single line, item 15, appropriates $1,589,514 from the general fund's fund balance "to provide for the required local match funds for the increase in Act 148 County Match due to an increase to non-reimbursable services" (p. 18). Act 148 is the state law (62 P.S. § 704.1) under whose regulations Pennsylvania reimburses counties for part of their children-and-youth costs. Item 14 adds a net $2,220,095 across 13 CYS and Juvenile Probation lines "for placement services," by our arithmetic: state grant and match revenue funds nine positive lines, $486,700 and $655,594 of general fund balance go into Juvenile Probation's youth-shelter accounts, and two Juvenile Probation lines carried as state grant revenue are cut by $1,086,598 and $1,367,813, cuts the explanations do not address (p. 18). In all, the listing sources $2,793,937 of new appropriations to the general fund's fund balance, by our arithmetic, and trims $289,952 from the Solicitor's expected CYS attorney-fee reimbursement "due to vacancies."

Another $53,899 of general fund balance buys "snow equipment" ($42,788) and a "floor scrubber" ($11,111) for 600 Penn. Item 9 takes $4,950 of Prothonotary e-filing fees for "a change order for the e-Filing system capital project," matching the Paperless Solutions amendment in the contract listing.

$16 million out, $24.7 million back for Berks Heim

The first item on the Nov. 9 contract listing (p. 30) is an Intergovernmental Agreement for the Transfer of Funds with the state Department of Human Services: "During calendar year 2027, the County shall transfer IGT funds in the amount of $16,024,020.00 over two installments" for Community HealthChoices, the state's managed-care program for people with physical disabilities and dual Medicare-Medicaid enrollees, to "fund payments to Berks Heim Nursing and Rehabilitation"; the source is "100% County." A separate agreement (p. 31) has PACAH, the Pennsylvania Coalition of Affiliated Healthcare & Living Communities, direct the managed-care plans' payments: "The estimated total payment from the MCOs to Berks Heim for the period of January 1, 2027, through December 31, 2027, is $24,659,701.00." If the estimate holds, by our arithmetic the 420-bed home gets back $8,635,681 more than the county puts in; our guide notes the 2026 budget records a $14.3 million general-fund contribution from the same program.

New rules for speaking at meetings, a reshaped Security Committee

Resolution 365.2026 would adopt "a resolution amending and restating the Board of Commissioners' rules and regulations for in-person and virtual participation in public meetings. This resolution supersedes Resolution No. 260-2021 and No. 10-2020" (pp. 3-4). Resolution 260-2021 is the county's public comment policy, the one that gives each in-person speaker "three (3) minutes" and caps the comment period at 30 minutes. The packet does not attach the new text, so what changes cannot be read before the vote; adoption would replace the resolution our guide to speaking at a commissioners meeting describes.

Resolution 364.2026 amends "the composition and responsibilities of the Security Committee," an existing body that "shall inform the Board on safety and security protocols, recommended improvements, emerging issues, and other related matters" (p. 3); the Chief Operations Officer chairs its 11 members, and it "rescinds and supersedes Resolution Nos. 336-2016 and 369-2018."

A $107,000 nursing hire, appointments and letters

Resolution 351.2026 adopts the Nov. 12 HR memo (p. 29): Felicia Neifeld becomes Assistant Director of Nursing at Berks Heim on Nov. 18 at $107,000 a year, replacing Lori Snyder, "who separated," and Jacqueline Shiffert is promoted to Lead Senior Financial Analyst on Nov. 13 at $82,000.

Resolutions 352 through 358 and 361 (pp. 2-3) appoint Sarah Hildebrant (Planning Commission, to 2030) and Dolores Martinez (Area Agency on Aging Advisory Council, to 2027) and reappoint Brian Clements and Donald Moll (Solid Waste Authority, to 2031), Andrea E. Mertz (Council on Chemical Abuse, to Feb. 1, 2029), Manuel Perez and a Michael Rivera of Reading (Mental Health and Developmental Disabilities Advisory Board, to 2029) and Andrew Fetterman (Rolling Hills Landfill Advisory Council, to 2029); the agenda does not say whether that Michael Rivera is the commissioner.

Resolution 360 has Jones sign a 2027 excess stop-loss health insurance proposal with Avalon Insurance Company; no premium is listed. Resolution 362 sends a letter to the federal delegation supporting "the Bipartisan American Affordability and Jobs Act of 2026 (S. 5653), a permitting reform bill." Resolution 363 backs Hope Rescue Mission's PHARE application for "HopeHouse for Men" at 132 South 9th Street, Reading; no amount is given.

Contracts: a consultant's 11th amendment, an actuary swap

The 13-item listing (pp. 30-35) includes Amendment #11 to McCormick Taylor, Inc.'s Facilities and Operations agreement, raising its cap by $100,000 to $500,000 through Dec. 31; the listing does not describe the work. Amendment #5 to USA Architects' agreement adds up to $36,500 for "Construction Document Phase Services," a week after a $24,000 amendment for the same phase; neither names the project. The county's pension actuary contract moves from Gallagher Benefit Services to Foster & Foster through 2028 at the same rates, a step the Retirement Fund Board put at Jan. 1, 2027, in our Oct. 29 preview; the listing's term starts Nov. 12. Also listed: two federally funded CareerLink amendments with Equus Workforce Solutions capped at $968,172.13 and $427,647.42, up to $230,400 in state money for The Binkley Kanavy Group to review HealthChoices reinvestment contractors and a $70,000 IMAGINE Berks housing-strategy consultant.

The Nov. 5 meeting, per the draft minutes

The draft minutes (pp. 5-9) list Leinbach, Rivera and Santoni present and the Oct. 29 minutes "approved as presented." Then: "Commissioner Rivera motioned to approve the agenda as presented. Commissioner Santoni seconded the motion. There being no further discussion, the agenda was approved as presented" (p. 8); no tally is printed. That motion adopted everything in our Nov. 5 preview: the $3,312,506 bond appropriation for the Agricultural Center awards, the Treasurer's account for "tax payments made under protest" and the rest. The meeting adjourned at 10:41 a.m.

Also Thursday, and what is not here

Jessica Jones, director of the Area Agency on Aging, presents "the home delivered meal program and program eligibility guidelines" (p. 4). At 11 a.m. the Election Board hears the Republican Committee's provisional-ballot challenges, per our Election Board preview. Nothing in the packet concerns the 2027 budget, and the county's budget history page lists no 2027 document; the Reading Eagle reported that the proposal arrives Nov. 19.

How to attend or comment

The meeting is in person at 633 Court Street and live on Microsoft Teams and BCTV; the county's meeting notice carries the Teams link. Per the packet's notice (p. 1), give your first name, last name and municipality or the comment "will not be considered"; 30 minutes total unless the board extends it.