The Augusta-Richmond County Commission unanimously agreed Nov. 25 not to adopt a proposed excise tax on energy used by manufacturers, after business leaders warned the levy would harm local competitiveness and job growth.

Administrator (name not given) had presented the excise tax earlier in the meeting as one of several options to help balance the fiscal year 2026 general and law-enforcement funds, estimating roughly $2,000,000 in conservative revenue. The administrator said the option had been used in prior budget cycles and was returned to the commission for consideration among other revenue and cut scenarios.

Angie Cox, president and CEO of the Augusta Metro Chamber of Commerce, told commissioners the chamber and its partners provided data and testimonials from local manufacturers and urged them to keep manufacturing energy tax-free, saying the county’s competitive advantage had helped attract major investments.

"Our industries here in Augusta are one of a kind operations. They should be nurtured and valued," Cox said, asking the commission to preserve current tax policy.

Clay Jones, vice president and general counsel of the Georgia Association of Manufacturers, gave a lengthy history of the state’s elimination of sales and use taxes on manufacturing energy and argued that reimposing a local excise would make Augusta less competitive compared with neighboring counties and states. Jones cited statewide expansions in manufacturing employment since the state reforms and warned of tax pyramiding that could increase consumer prices.

Commissioner Brandon Garrett urged colleagues to remove the measure from consideration, saying it would risk sending a message that Augusta is not welcoming to manufacturers. The chair called for a show-of-hands consensus to remove the excise tax option; the commission recorded the consensus as unanimous.

The administrator noted that removing the excise tax reduces the administration’s available revenue options by about $2 million and asked commissioners to identify alternate approaches to fill the gap.

Next steps: the administration said it would return with other options for closing the budget gap while the commission continued discussion of cuts and savings.