LaFayette, GA (June 26, 2026) – The Walker County Board of Commissioners received a $40-million budget proposal for fiscal year 2027 today during a special called meeting. CFO Christian Roach presented a high-level overview of the county’s financial position to the Board, along with what it will take to fund county operations next fiscal year.
Chairwoman Angie Teems and her accounting team spent the past month working with department heads to reduce original funding requests from more than $50 million to approximately $40 million – a decrease of more than $10 million through careful review and prioritization of departmental needs.
Even after those reductions, the proposed budget includes a 7.9% increase in expenses over the current year and would require an additional $2.8 million in revenue to balance. “The additional expenses come from a mix of staffing requests, escalating contracts and state-mandates,” said Roach.
Among the additional expenses proposed:
- 3% cost of living adjustment for county employees (+$1,000,000)
- Four (+$270,000) to nine new (+$607,500) firefighters
- New ambulance service contract (+$350,000)
- Transit service subsidy (+300,000)
- Animal Shelter operations (+$225,000)
- State mandated increases for the DA & Public Defender (+165,000)
- Support for area non-profit organizations (+$101,500)
- One new School Resource Officer (+$62,500)
Options to address the budget shortfall include adjusting the Public Safety Fee and/or the millage rate, cost-sharing agreements with cities for 911 and animal shelter services, increasing fees for subsidized operations like Transit and raising rent on the use of county facilities.
Revenue collected from the County’s millage rate has remained flat since 2017, while the dollars generated have not kept pace with inflation. Only 26% of all property taxes paid by residents in unincorporated Walker County go to fund county operations. The other 74% goes to the school system.
After already reducing expenses by more than $10 million, public hearings will help the County determine how to address the remaining $2.8 million gap while maintaining essential services. Public hearings will take place during the regularly scheduled Board of Commissioners meetings at 6:30 p.m. on Thursday, July 9th and Thursday, August 6th.
Download a copy of the budget proposal by clicking here.
Download the slides used in the budget presentation by clicking here.