Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the County Budget Forecast topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Henry County commissioners agree to use Baker Tilly conservative forecast for 2026 budget
Summary
After several hours of line-by-line review, county leaders coalesced around Baker Tilly's conservative revenue forecast to frame the 2026 operating budget, leaving further choices about raises and one-time projects for later meetings.
Henry County commissioners and department heads on Tuesday agreed to use the conservative revenue forecast prepared by Baker Tilly as the baseline for the county's 2026 operating budget.
The decision came after extended discussion about how to estimate certified shares (local income-tax distributions), property-tax credits and state supplemental payments. Using Baker Tilly's numbers gives the county a wider cushion for contingencies and reduces the chance of overstating available dollars while the state's methods for distributing income-tax supplements remain uncertain.
County officials debated an alternate scenario that would assume a modest 2.7% growth in certified shares; proponents said that figure better reflects recent local collections. Others said the state's supplemental distributions and pending legislative changes make any above‑trend assumptions unreliable. Officials repeatedly noted that the supplemental share returned by the state has been inconsistent and that DLGF guidance has changed from year to year.
Budget staff provided commissioners with cost estimates for a potential across‑the‑board pay adjustment tied to the county's midpoint study. The raw salary cost to move all eligible positions to 95%, 97% and full midpoint would increase the general‑fund payroll by roughly $128,000, $255,000 and $450,000 respectively; when payroll taxes, retirement and workers' compensation are included, staff estimated the total county cost would be roughly 20% higher than those salary-only figures.
With Baker Tilly's forecast as the baseline, commissioners said they will direct the auditor and budget staff to recalculate department worksheets and return with updated totals and the technical budget pages the state requires. Any decision on fund transfers, one‑time capital proposals or a final step on raises will be taken after that follow-up analysis.
The group's working consensus to use the Baker Tilly forecast leaves the county with an estimated operating cushion under current assumptions; commissioners said they prefer a conservative baseline given the number of state‑level policy changes that will affect distributions in 2026 and beyond.
