Newton County approves FY26 Budget

The Board of Commissioners approved Newton County's Fiscal Year 2026 Budget during its Regular Meeting Tuesday, June 17.

The new budget ensures the continuation of the highest level of services for the people of Newton County through an emphasis on employee recruitment and retention. Additionally, a concerted effort was made regarding staffing of new facilities previously voted on and approved via Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax referendums.

Soon-to-open amenities such as the Senior Services Enrichment Center at Denny Dobbs Park, parks throughout the County and expanded front-facing department offices will be staffed to the benefit of residents and visitors.

The general fund budget of $108,641,020 is a 9.2 percent increase from Fiscal Year 2025 addressing several needs:

• An increase due to a compensation and classification study for employees - $3,700,000
• Health insurance cost increase of 14% - $1,500,000
• Contingency for New Positions - $1,750,000
• Public Works Bridge Repairs - $1,000,000
• Public Works Culvert Replacements - $750,000
• Virtual Server Upgrade - $245,000
• ABM energy efficiency equipment debt (first approved in 2016) - $1,176,000

Funding these needs occurred while limiting the increase of the millage rate to just 0.358 mils. The FY26 rate of 8.6 mills is keeping with Board of Commissioners' (BOC) desire to lessen the burden of Newton County taxpayers. The board's effort began earlier this year when the BOC declined to opt out of HB581, giving taxpayers a floating homestead exemption by locking in their assessed taxable value.

The complete FY2026 Budget can be found here: https://county-newton-ga-budget-book.cleargov.com/20604/introduction/transmittal-letter.