Dougherty County Commission doesn’t expect tax increase for 2024-2025 budget year

ALBANY – Dougherty County’s 2024-2025 budget calls for an increase in spending of more than 7% over the previous year, but county commissioners say that the hike reflects inflationary pressure more than adding fat.

The $98.94 million spending plan for the budget year that begins on Monday calls for spending up to $6.42 million in county reserve fund balances, but county officials say no tax rate increase is anticipated. Commissioners did not vote to increase salaries for employees for the coming fiscal year.

The commission approved the budget this week.

Commissioner Ed Newsome, a member of the commission’s Finance Committee, likened the increase to what consumers are seeing when they make a trip to the grocery store: increased prices for goods and services, which the county government also is experiencing.

“Everybody’s hit with it,” he said. “It ain’t fun. Two years ago my grocery bill was $60, $65 a week. I went yesterday to buy the same things I always buy. It was $117 for the same stuff.

“If you go through the budget, every day is like you and everybody else. These costs are going up.”

The 2024-2025 budget would be an increase of 7.4% over the $92.1 million in the current spending plan. The increase to the maintenance and operation and capital improvement piece of the budget, which accounts for the majority of spending, is expected to increase from $68.4 million to $73 million.

Within the next few days, the commission will hear the final revenue estimates for the coming budget year. After those numbers come in, commissioners will make a decision on setting the tax millage rate, with the consensus at the moment being that the tax rate will remain unchanged.

County department heads did not make any requests for big-ticket items, Newsome said.

“It was a good job by our departments of keeping our costs down,” Commissioner Clinton Johnson, who chairs the county’s Finance Committee, said. “Our departments did not ask for anything (unreasonable). They made requests, and we granted those requests. Everything they asked for was needed.”

Officials say they anticipate a slight increase in some property values, which will help prevent the necessity of a tax rate increase. Each year a sampling of properties is revalued, and those revaluations are expected to increase the overall property tag digest by a small amount.

Staff Photo: Alan MauldinAlanMauldin[email protected]