The Burke County Board of Commissioners opened a public hearing on the FY2026 budget, during which the sheriff submitted a formal letter warning of a projected $2,800,000 shortfall for his office. The sheriff wrote that the shortfall "poses a significant challenge to the fulfilling [sic] the constitutional responsibilities entrusted to me as sheriff" and urged commissioners to "set aside personal feelings and agendas to prioritize the needs of the majority of our citizens." The sheriff's letter also noted that "72% of the electorate voted for me to serve as the sheriff," and asked the commission to postpone a meeting scheduled for Sept. 11 because a mandamus hearing on Sept. 18 might resolve issues under consideration.

The county manager reported the commissioners’ overall FY2026 target was a 5% reduction from the previous year and said the adopted proposal achieved a 4.9% reduction. The manager said the Fire Fund is reduced by 5% and that "all the other funds are 5% reduction" while opening the floor for public comment on the budget.

A commissioner asked specifically about the detention center and sheriff’s office budget and was told the detention center and sheriff’s office budget shows a 1.2% increase "over last year's budget," addressing an apparent inconsistency between the sheriff's concern about a shortfall and the line-item change for those departments.

During the hearing, the downtown development director submitted a request for a $20,000 grant from the board to begin work on a downtown restroom project; the director said the Downtown Development Authority had already spent more than $25,000 on the project. The request was entered into the record.

No vote on the overall budget occurred at the public hearing itself; commissioners noted that, "upon adoption, on the fifteenth, the new budget goes into effect" at 5:00 a.m. on Sept. 15, and that the hearing's purpose was to receive public input before that adoption.

The sheriff’s letter and the downtown restroom grant request were entered into the official record for commissioners’ consideration during the budget adoption process.