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Oconee County administrator presents FY27 budget; council approves proposed changes
Summary
Administrator Stewart Jones presented a FY27 budget framed as a corrective, stabilizing plan after prior accounting problems; he reported a Moody’s upgrade and projected a roughly $4.9 million surplus before council approved the proposed ordinance and budget adjustments.
Administrator Stewart Jones presented Oconee County’s proposed fiscal year 2026–27 budget at a June 16 special council meeting, saying the plan focuses on stabilizing county finances and rebuilding reserves after earlier accounting problems. He told the council Moody’s upgraded the county to a “double A2” rating after staff outlined corrective measures and that staff expect improved standing with S&P if current actions continue.
Jones said the county moved from a negative outlook in December 2025 to an affirmed “double A2 excellent rating” from Moody’s after staff presented steps to address prior issues. “Moody’s … said that we have a double A2 excellent rating here in the county,” Jones said, adding that S&P will review the county’s rating on its two-year schedule. Jones framed FY27 as a “corrective stabilizing year” and said staff expect to end the month approximately $4.9 million “in the black.”
The presentation listed concrete corrective actions staff say they have taken: identifying a millage-calculation error; revealing previously omitted insurance costs in budget materials presented to council; implementing budget and hiring freezes; improving reconciliation processes; and reallocating positions that had been funded outside departmental budgets. Jones said those measures, together with a newly negotiated health-insurance plan, produced a 6.63% reduction in projected health-insurance costs.
Jones also described procedural changes intended to increase transparency: the FY27 budget emphasizes dollar amounts rather than mills (a zero-balance approach in the budget ordinance), and staff will provide quarterly financial reports showing fund balances and reconciliations. He pointed council to the budget ordinance’s Section 23, which sets the growth-fund limitation; staff confirmed the limitation for the year is 4.09%.
On revenues, Jones said the county’s rock quarry enterprise is expected to contribute about $4 million to the FY27 budget, up from roughly $1.5–2 million in prior years, and noted the quarry’s operations average about $50,000 gross per day. Jones gave a projected general fund figure of $70,116,000 that, with a few late adjustments, he said now totals about $70.25 million.
Council members raised follow-ups and action items: staff will review whether particular properties were over- or undertaxed and report back, and the council asked staff to study whether parks should charge out-of-county fees when vehicle registrations indicate out-of-state ownership. A council member asked for clarification about a typo in the proposed fee schedule (a ramp-fee figure that should read 10,000 rather than 100,000), which staff acknowledged.
After discussion, a council member moved and another seconded adding the proposed changes to the budget ordinance; the motion was carried by voice vote in the transcript with affirmative responses recorded and no objections noted. Council discussed prioritizing road paving and expanding a county paving crew as part of the FY27 work plan. The meeting ended after a motion to adjourn was approved.
The council did not record a roll-call tally in the transcript; staff and council members agreed to follow up on the tax-map review and parks-fee research. The FY27 budget as presented is balanced, and staff stated it would not require a tax increase under the assumptions presented.
