NEWTON COUNTY – On Tuesday, June 10, the Newton County Board of Commissioners (BOC) discussed changes that had been made to the FY26 budget and opened up the meeting for public input.
Finance Director Brittany White presented a slideshow that showed a decrease in the total budget since the June 3 budget meeting.
The total is now sitting at $145,799,561, which is an increase of 8.8% from the FY25 budget. This is down from the reported total from last week of $149,890,041, which would have been an 11.9% increase from the year before.
“We are definitely going line by line and doing our best to really delve deep into every single department, really looking at what they actually spent in the previous year,” said District 2 Commissioner Demond Mason.
Commissioners have also worked to decrease the millage rate from last week’s proposed budget. Last week, the proposed millage rate was set at 9.3 mills, causing an estimated $175 increase on a $300,000 house.
The new tentative millage rate is now set at 8.6 mills, which would be an estimated increase of $94 on a $300,000 house. This would still be an increase from the 8.242 millage rate for FY25.
While this is a far cry from the original 10 mil proposal in mid-March, citizens still wished to see a larger decrease.
Covington resident Larry McSwain started by thanking commissioners for opting into House Bill 581, which provides a floating homestead tax exemption to the county’s homeowners.
McSwain also took the time to thank the BOC for following a continuous trend of lower millage rates and asked to continue that trend in FY26.
“I’m pretty sure that most people in this audience don’t expect a 9.3% income increase or salary increase this year,” McSwain said.
Douglas Johnson has been a resident of Newton County since 1973, and he echoed McSwain’s comments regarding the millage rate.
Johnson told the BOC they should consider putting a moratorium on the tax increase until the property is sold.
Many senior citizens at the meeting like Johnson brought up the struggle a tax increase causes while living on a fixed income.
“My social security is not keeping up with your tax increase,” Johnson said.
Former Newton County commissioner Alana Sanders questioned why the BOC and White are comparing millage rates from counties with relevant differences to Newton County.
Sanders said that three of the counties listed – Morgan, Butts and Jasper – were not adequate for comparison due to their smaller population sizes and lack of substantial growth.
She added that, of the counties in White’s presentation, Walton County, which saw a recent population spike of 17,000 people, was likely the most comparable to Newton. But Sanders asserted that Walton was still a relatively poor equivalent, as its millage rate has not changed since 2021, while Newton County’s has fluctuated.
Sanders also commented on the budget, saying an auditor previously told the board that the Solid Waste Authority can “run on its own” because they are making a profit. She criticized Newton County for not decreasing the amount of money given to them as the convenience fee increases.
“We need to look at our budget and look at how we can supply things to offset the taxpayers,” Sanders said. “Let’s do our research, folks.”
Covington resident Barbara Morgan said the budget needs to cover the cost of Newton County’s increase in medical and healthcare expenses.
“We are all experiencing that,” Morgan said. “We can’t expect the county to eat that.”
Morgan acknowledges that this increase may also cause an increase in personnel costs but admits she is all for it if it means keeping good people employed.
A few residents who spoke at the meeting were confused about what the SPLOST can and cannot cover. District 1 Commissioner Stan Edwards spoke to bring some clarity surrounding these questions.
“Everybody knows those SPLOST projects created some personnel needs, and whether we like those projects or not, they were voted on by the citizenry,” Edwards said.
While the board is expected to vote on the FY26 budget on June 17, it seems as though more budget cuts may be in store.
“We’re still looking,” said District 5 Commissioner LeAnne Long. “Just know that the passion is here from this board to do that and to go line for line.”
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by PostX News and is published from a syndicated feed.)
