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Chattahoochee County approves $294,725 in budget amendments as commissioners confront a roughly $740,000 deficit
Summary
The Cusseta‑Chattahoochee County Commission unanimously approved budget amendments totaling $294,725 and heard repeated warnings from staff that the FY2025 proposed budget begins with about a $740,000 shortfall, prompting debate about possible millage increases and cuts to department requests.
The Cusseta‑Chattahoochee County Commission on April 1 unanimously approved budget amendments totaling $294,725 and moved into a month of public hearings and work sessions to address an overall budget shortfall.
County Manager Thomas Weaver told the board at a public hearing that the proposed budget "is starting at a $740,000.00 deficit" and that "the ambulance since we started has brought in over $130,000.00," figures he said partially offset the gap but do not close it. The amendments approved by the commission moved reserve funds into several operating and salary line items, including increases for EMS salaries, legal expense, coroner pay and boarding of prisoners.
The board adopted specific resolutions reallocating funds from reserves to operating accounts: $6,000 for property‑tax reimbursement, $30,000 to correct a coroner salary line, $150,000 for legal expenses, $275,000 for EMS salaries and $200,000 for boarding prisoners (the staff summary lists the package as a $294,725 total amendment). Commissioners recorded the motions as unanimous votes.
Commissioners and staff spent subsequent hearings and a work session weighing how to close the remaining structural gap. Commissioner Jason Frost said the county must consider a tax increase if spending needs continue to outpace revenue: "we are going to have to think about raising taxes," he said during the April 28 budget discussion. Chairman Charles Coffey and other members pressed elected officials and department heads to identify cuts, warning that repeated draws on reserves are unsustainable.
Weaver said some capital requests can be covered by SPLOST (a local option sales tax fund), and he recommended evaluating which capital items to move out of the operating budget. The administration also flagged state‑mandated costs—such as required Tax Commissioner software—and rising personnel and insurance expenses as drivers of higher budgets.
The commission will continue budget deliberations during May meetings and work sessions; Weaver said final budget adjustments and any proposed millage change will be brought back to the board for action. No final decision on millage was adopted at the April meetings.
