County Manager outlines tight FY27 budget, warns fund balance nearing policy floor

County Manager Bob Cowell presented Athens-Clarke County’s framework for the FY27 budget on March 24, 2026, telling the mayor and commission that the county projects roughly $6.4 million of new general-fund resources and faces far more requests than it can fund.

Cowell said the county received approximately $6.7 million in requests to cover contractual and inflationary increases and roughly $8 million in proposed new initiatives, including about 60 positions requested in the general fund and 75 countywide. “We have a projected about $6.4 million of, if you will, new general fund for FY27,” Cowell said, adding that capital requests exceed $100 million with $41 million coming from the general fund.

Why it matters: Cowell warned that revenues continue to grow but at a slower rate than recent years while certain costs—utility bills, fuel, and contract renewals—are rising faster than inflation. He emphasized the county’s limited ability to keep drawing on fund balance for recurring costs: the county’s policy minimum for fund balance is about $35.5 million and the projected FY27 year-end balance is roughly $41 million. “We’re essentially at that point after this budget,” Cowell said, cautioning that further reliance on savings is unsustainable.

Top proposals and trade-offs: Cowell said his proposal that will be forwarded to the mayor includes roughly $5.6 million in budget moves, with $4.2 million for compensation increases, about $3 million targeted to contractual inflationary costs (insufficient to cover all increases), and just under $1 million for new initiatives. On compensation specifically, he proposed up to a 4% market-rate increase for general-government staff and a 3% adjustment to the public-safety step pay plan; he estimated the total cost to achieve those adjustments would be about $8 million countywide.

On capital and service delivery, Cowell recommended investing in internal project-delivery capacity—project managers and a county-engineer equivalent—to reduce consultant reliance, a process he expects to take at least two years and that can be funded from non-general funds such as stormwater, SPLOST or T-SPLOST. He also outlined proposed one-time capital uses of fund balance, including facilities life-cycle work, IT replacements, and jail-security modernization.

Revenue options discussed: Commissioners and Cowell discussed alternate revenue approaches and earmarked funds that do not flow to the general fund. Cowell highlighted that certain districts (TADs) and the Community Clean Energy Fund capture roughly $6 million annually that would otherwise be available to the general fund, and he presented options to (a) leave those structures as-is, (b) revise how their growth is managed, or (c) be more strategic in redirecting dollars to priority needs in future budgets.

Programs and discretionary funding: Cowell said his handoff to the mayor included potential reductions in discretionary external funding (the neighborhood leaders program was cited as an example of a $1.2 million line item currently under review) and urged a broad, wholesale review of outside partner funding and nonprofit grants if the commission chooses to pursue cuts.

Legislative and external risk: Cowell noted state legislative uncertainty—specifically House Bill 1116 (and earlier HB 581 iterations) still under discussion—with potential redistribution of revenue that could materially change local revenue availability. He committed to providing the commission a memo with analyses once final language is known.

Next steps: Cowell said the mayor will present a formal budget proposal in mid-to-late April, followed by work sessions and commission deliberations. He asked commissioners to expect more detailed materials in advance of meetings and to use the intervening weeks to explore options for FY28 planning.

The county manager closed by restating the trade-offs: “Revenue continues to grow. Moderately bad news is it grows at a reducing rate and expenses are growing at a faster rate,” Cowell said, urging commissioners to prepare for more difficult choices ahead.