Hamilton County commissioners adopted the fiscal year 2026 budget and certified the 2025 tax rate at their June 18 meeting.

The commission approved Resolution 625-46, adopting a $1,095,678,025 budget for FY2026, and separately certified the county's tax rate under Resolution 625-45. The budget vote passed on a roll call with a single dissent: Commissioner Sharp voted no on the budget, citing concerns about transparency and compliance with legal accountability structures.

Marty Haynes, the Hamilton County assessor of property, told the commission the certified tax rate accompanying the budget is the lowest the county has had since the 1940s. "This is the lowest tax rate since then," Haynes said during discussion. The precise certified-rate figure was discussed in the meeting but not cleanly recorded in the public transcript; commissioners accepted the rate and moved on to budget votes.

Commissioner Sharp said he would vote against the budget because, in his view, it reduced transparency by consolidating divisions and removing a separate compliance function he said is required by law. "Failure to create an independent function of compliance as law calls for ... makes county government less accountable," Sharp said, explaining his no vote.

Other commissioners commended the finance staff for their work. Commissioner Graham and several colleagues praised the county's ability to maintain a strong bond rating while approving a substantial capital-borrowing program; staff noted the county secured a favorable rating while issuing bonds for school and infrastructure projects. Finance staff told commissioners that supported-agency funding for nonprofits in the budget totaled roughly $6.9 million last year (an approximate figure provided in the meeting); staff said the current allocation is detailed in the nonprofit appropriation resolution that followed the main budget vote.

Assessor Haynes offered to prepare a tax-equity study requested by commissioners to quantify how the reassessment affected different parts of the county; he asked commissioners to provide questions or allow a month for staff to compile a district-level analysis. Several commissioners asked for the study to understand whether assessment increases fell more heavily on city neighborhoods than on unincorporated areas.

What happens next: the FY2026 budget goes into effect July 1, 2025. Finance staff will continue to provide detailed allocations and the clerk will publish the final budget text; the assessor's office will prepare an equity analysis for commissioners on request.