Athens-Clarke County holds second public hearing on proposed FY26 budget as commissioners debate competing plans

Athens-Clarke County Commissioners held a second public hearing on the proposed fiscal year 2026 budget on June 5, focusing on two competing commission-developed options that differ on millage rate changes, affordable-housing funding and use of SPLOST/T-SPLOST interest. Members heard three public commenters and several department and staff briefings before scheduling a final budget vote for the commission's next meeting.

The hearing matters because the commission must adopt a FY26 budget that funds public safety, courts, libraries, solid waste and capital maintenance while complying with the state "Taxpayer Bill of Rights" requirement for local budget hearings. Commissioners exchanged numbers and priorities on affordable housing, courthouse security, the sheriff's equity adjustment and maintenance projects; staff will confirm several line-item figures before a final vote.

Commissioner Myers presented a CDO (commission-developed option) that includes a 0.1 mill increase intended largely to fund the affordable-housing transfer and a set of public-safety and court-related items. Myers listed specific line items that he said came from the finance department's Q&A: a sheriff's equity adjustment figure his notes show at $489,755; corrections midyear funding of $317,552 and probation at $43,306; courthouse security and enhancements of $250,000; and a transfer of $1 million to the county's affordable housing fund.

Commissioner Hamby offered a second CDO framed around "service, safety and savings," proposing a 0.2 mill decrease based on tax-digest growth. Hamby's draft restores full library funding requests, moves leaf-and-limb pickups from every six weeks to every four weeks, adds funding for courthouse security upgrades (he cited $700,000 for those upgrades), and proposes a $100,000 contribution to the Northeast Georgia Food Bank dedicated to Athens-Clarke County clients. Hamby's presentation also reallocates earned interest from several T-SPLOST and SPLOST accounts toward pavement and maintenance projects and increased signal replacement and park facilities funding.

Public commenters pressed elected officials on specific priorities. Patrick Sheridan of 134 Ashley Circle said, "I supported the proposal that Commissioner Myers made," and urged commissioners to consider transit revenue options, adding, "even if you charge someone 50¢ for a bus ride, that's about 700,000 based on the projected numbers." Sheriff John Q. Williams thanked the commission for attention to public-safety funding and noted upcoming courthouse improvements, saying the courthouse will "soon have one working elevator at the courthouse thanks to you all's support." Elise Stengel of 235 River Hill Drive asked commissioners to "fully support the library's request for funding this year," citing library programs and services for seniors and families.

Commissioners asked staff for more detail before finalizing the budget. Commissioner Link requested a memo from Solid Waste on the feasibility and cost implications of service-frequency changes and a schedule of outstanding SPLOST and T-SPLOST projects and any known overruns; several commissioners echoed that request. Commissioners also directed staff to continue quarterly reporting on ARPA-funded agencies and to flag any grantees at risk of not spending allocated funds by federal deadlines; staff said those recapture and monitoring processes are already in place and that an updated spending report would be provided.

No final budget vote took place at the June 5 special session. The commission set a final vote for its next meeting (scheduled for Tuesday of the coming week) and asked that final CDOs and supporting memos be filed with the clerk by Monday to allow public review. Commissioners and staff repeatedly cautioned that some line items and sums cited during the debate reflected differing drafts and that finance staff would verify the correct numbers before the vote.

The session concluded with procedural motions to adjourn. Commissioners signaled broad agreement on public-safety priorities and affordable-housing funding but remained divided on the millage direction, use of SPLOST interest, and some capital-project reallocations—issues staff will clarify before the vote.

Upcoming steps: staff will verify disputed line-item figures that were discussed on June 5, provide a SPLOST/T-SPLOST project status update and memorandum on solid-waste cost feasibility, and circulate an ARPA spending update and any agency recapture risks ahead of the next meeting when commissioners plan to vote on the FY26 budget.