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Ware County presents $34 million FY2027 budget proposal, commissioners weigh options on millage and pay raise
Summary
County staff proposed a roughly $34 million operating budget for fiscal 2027, highlighted a 6.62% revenue increase need, requested a 5% cost-of-living adjustment for employees and warned of uncertainty from state/federal funding; commissioners asked for scenarios on millage rollbacks and staffing before adoption next week.
Miss Short, the county budget presenter, told the Board of Commissioners the FY2027 proposal estimates roughly $34 million is needed to operate county services, up from a general fund base cited at $32 million last year. She outlined major funding streams and pressures — SPLOST/SPLS and LMIG for road work, a 911 fund that receives only a fraction of its costs from state phone-fee allocations, the airport budget and self-funded health and workers' compensation accounts — and said the draft includes a 5% cost-of-living adjustment for employees.
"We went ahead and budgeted for the full five for a whole fiscal year," Miss Short said, adding staff will continue to look for additional savings before the adoption vote next week. She noted some bills (installation and first-month telephone charges) are still being recorded and that final adjustments are possible.
The presentation showed the county’s revenue base remains heavily tax-dependent: roughly 81% of the base derives from taxes (property, sales and excise). Miss Short told commissioners the budgeted revenues for next year are up about 6.62% over the current year, while many expense categories — public safety, judicial services, public works and recreation — are rising because of higher insurance, utilities and staffing needs.
Commissioners immediately focused on trade-offs. One commissioner noted the county has rolled back millage rates in recent years but said the current environment — volatile state and federal grants, rising fuel and utility costs, and expensive capital replacements like HVAC units — makes a rollback risky. "If revenues fall off, then we're going to have to make some adjustments somewhere," Miss Short said. Commissioners asked staff to produce numeric scenarios showing the effect of (a) keeping the millage the same, (b) a partial rollback, and (c) the cost impact of adding the requested personnel.
Why it matters: the draft budget front-loads costs for public safety (roughly half the budget) and proposes a significant employee COLA to retain staff while revenues face uncertainty from state-level policy changes. The board set final adoption for next week and directed staff to return with specific scenarios on millage options, the fiscal impact of requested hires, and possible fee increases to close gaps.
The board recessed the hearing after a roll-call motion to adjourn; no final adoption occurred at this session.
