Fulton County Council appoints zoning appeals member and adopts multiple 2026 budgets and transfers

The Fulton County Council on Oct. 21 voted to appoint Helen Derkas as the council’s representative to the Board of Zoning Appeals and approved several 2026 budgets, tax levies and routine transfers.

The council approved the appointment of Helen Derkas after Chair (unnamed) asked for comments and moved her appointment. The motion passed by voice vote, recorded in the meeting as 6-0.

Council members then adopted budgets the body said must be finalized this month. The Airport Authority’s adopted budget was presented as $729,400 with an adopted tax rate listed as 0.0603; the council approved the resolution to adopt that budget. The Fulton County Solid Waste District’s adopted budget of $822,094 — noted as having no tax levy — was likewise approved.

The council’s packet showed county totals including a general fund of $9,591,005, a total adopted budget of $16,014,864 and a total county tax levy of $6,939,900 with an adopted tax rate reported as 0.4425. After discussion about assessed values, the council moved to adopt the county budget; the motion passed with a recorded vote shown as 7-0.

Several smaller transfers and appropriations were also approved. Among them: a communications training-to-equipment transfer of $1,756.43; a coroner transport reallocation of $2,250 to autopsy transport; and a prosecutor office reallocation of $3,080 from software to vehicles and postage to contribute toward a law-enforcement vehicle for drug investigations. The council also approved purchasing a 2022 Ford EcoSport for the assessor’s office using reassessment funds. Votes on these items were recorded in the meeting minutes and carried unanimously where indicated.

Other approved appropriations included $2,000 from the recorder’s perpetuation fund for computer maintenance (a subscription to look up deed records) and $30,000 from county general to pay Baker Tilly consultant fees related to the budget process. The council also approved $32,000 from an IT go-bond for a new Lao timekeeping system intended to integrate with HR and payroll.

The clerk’s office was authorized to use $60,000 returned to the county general from a Title 9D account to fund imaging of court records. The sheriff’s department moved $19,475 from a special-purpose insurance fund to cover a replacement vehicle after an accident.

The council chair said multiple items were routine but required formal action this month. The meeting packet and council staff were listed as the sources of the figures presented.

The council scheduled a third reading of a separate salary ordinance at its November meeting; other budget and appropriation items will be executed according to the adopted resolutions and the county’s fiscal procedures.