County chairman outlines budget rise, public‑safety investments and disaster recovery in State of the County address
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Summary
An unidentified county chairman summarized 2025 accomplishments and FY26 plans, highlighting a 5.29% budget increase, new ambulances and EOC upgrades, FEMA disaster grants, road resurfacing, library regionalization and expanded county surveillance and 911 capabilities.
Unidentified Speaker, the county chairman, delivered the annual State of the County address and said Lincoln County’s finances are “strong and in excellent condition.” He summarized 2025 operations and laid out priorities for FY26, citing a $442,650 increase in the FY26 budget (5.29%) and a continued focus on public safety, emergency readiness, roads and community services.
The chairman said the county’s FY25 budget totaled $8,354,776 and the FY26 budget was set at $8,797,426, an increase of $442,650 or 5.29%. He attributed most of the increase to six items he listed by dollar amount: health insurance $208,000; payroll raises $227,991; retirement plan $51,986; cost share with federal/state agencies $10,399; liability insurance $64,986; and state‑mandated post‑traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) coverage $15,000. The chairman said those six items together added $578,368 to the county’s costs.
On emergency services, the chairman noted recent upgrades at the Office of Emergency Services and Emergency Operations Center on Global Drive, including new audiovisual equipment and workstations, and said the county received and assigned new ambulances (one reported at $220,000, another authorized at $191,268) funded from a special purpose local option sales tax fund referenced in the address. He also reported the county obtained FEMA and other disaster‑related awards and grants to fund Hurricane Helene debris cleanup.
Roads and infrastructure were highlighted: the county resurfaced 27 miles of road in 2025 at a reported cost of $4,630,246 funded from local maintenance funds, transportation sales tax and the CSRA Transportation Investment Act (transcript reference). Milling and patching work totaled $917,956, and engineering began on additional roads for 2026 projects.
The chairman described county services and community programs—recreation upgrades (playground equipment and field improvements funded in part with $195,000 from USDA and the local sales tax fund), expansion of county transit services for dialysis and other medical appointments across neighboring counties, growth in library usage and creation of an Eastern Regional Library System serving Burke, Lincoln and Warren counties, and robust extension and 4‑H programming.
He closed by thanking all public safety personnel, volunteer firefighters, 911 staff and county employees for their service and by reiterating that the county’s finances are in good condition.
The address contained a number of numerical and programmatic details reported by the chairman, some of which use the transcript’s original wording (for example, references to local sales tax funds labeled in the transcript as “SPLASH 7” and similar terms). Where wording in the transcript was unclear, the article notes that ambiguity rather than altering the figures.
