Cherokee County proposes 5.153 millage rate, $2 million Pine Log land purchase; commissioners debate staffing funding

At a Cherokee County Commission public hearing on proposed tax rates, county staff presented a draft 2026 general fund budget that would keep the county M&O (maintenance and operations) millage at 5.153 while using part of the general fund balance to pay for a proposed $2,000,000 purchase of the Pine Log property.

County budget staff told commissioners the package of spending and reserves would lower months of general fund balance from about 4.13 months today to roughly 3.8 months in one calculation and to about 3.36 months in another, depending on assumptions. Staff said departments initially requested about $15.7 million in increases; after cuts the net department increase in the general fund was about $5 million and the draft county-wide budget totals roughly $175,000,000.

Why it matters: the proposal would preserve the M&O millage at the level presented to the public while drawing on reserves for the Pine Log purchase and other uses. The change in months of fund balance is a measure commissioners cited when weighing reserve sustainability versus one-time uses of fund balance.

County staff summarized how general fund tax receipts would be allocated under the draft budget: about 42% to the sheriff's office, 19% to judicial functions and 22% to general services, with the bulk of the general fund directed to public safety, judicial…