The Baldwin County Board of commissioners heard a budget presentation and hosted the budget public hearing on Tuesday.
According to Assistant County Manager Dawn Hudson, the budget process began in August and all the requests totaled $2.9 million. The additional project revenue was estimated to be $2.2 million, so the board previously requested that the budget be balanced to the $30 million estimated revenue. According to the budget presentation, there was about $730,000 that needed to be cut from the requests.
According to the presentation, this year, the general fund operating budget is $30 million, which is a 7.9% increase over the $27.8 million budget in 2024. Tax revenue makes up about 83% of general fund revenues.
This budget is based on property tax of about $18.4 million, Local Option Sales Tax of $6 million, and other tax revenue at about $445,000. Intergovernmental revenues, which are grants, are mostly operational for drug courts and victim programs at $1.35 million. The county is continuing to seek grants to offset costs and capital items. Charges for services this year were increased by $293,000 and majority of that is from a proposed increase in fees for the golf course to total $2.7 million. Fines and forfeitures are expected to be $959,000 and all other revenue is about $62,000.
“Prior to 2020, we were a little less dependent on property taxes for the total revenue for the county. After 2020, we became more dependent and this year it makes up about 62% of the total revenue for the general fund,” said Hudson.
General fund highlights showed that personnel services make up 65-70% of the total budget. This includes salaries and related benefits. So, in the proposal, there is a 1% Cost-of-Living Adjustment (COLA) for all county employees and a 2% merit increase for classified employees, which is a 3% increase for full-time employees. There are also increases for retirement contributions and insurance costs, which tend to increase each year.
“We did see about a 5% increase in insurance costs for county employees, but the county is self-funded, and we are showing about a 14% less increase than the national average and about a 13% less increase than other state and local governments,” said Hudson.
Hudson went over multiple funds in the presentation, but one highlight was the SPLOST Capital Project Fund. The county estimated $55 million over the six-year period for this fund.
Projects include: public safety facilities, equipment, and improvements; communication system upgrades; recreation facilities, equipment, and improvements; economic development to include the Development Authority, airport greenway, and Central State Hospital and Redevelopment Authority; fire administration and equipment; public works administration and equipment; and infrastructure improvements. City projects are also included in the current SPLOST referendum.
“Our SPLOSTS continue to increase each year. There was about a 5% increase this year and we continue to benefit about 40% of our sales tax revenue from citizens outside the county,” said Hudson.
The TSPLOST Capital Fund was passed in November 2023 and runs from March 2024 through March 2029. The estimated revenue is $45 million, 65% to be used for county projects and 35% to be used for city projects. The 2024 TSPLOST and ELMEG projects total about $3.71 million for about 19 different roads and about 14 miles of roads to be paved in 2024.
To listen to the entire budget presentation, visit the Baldwin County Board of Commissioners Facebook and watch from the start of the board meeting to 23:44.
In other board matters, the board unanimously approved housing policies and procedures for the Community Development Block Grant for $1.2 million to complete housing rehabilitation on three houses on Marion Street. The board also approved a resolution to adopt the updated Language Access Plan that is required by the grant.
The commissioners also approved a post-traumatic stress disorder and long-term disability insurance coverage for first-responders required by the state. The fund was created by the Association County Commissioners of Georgia. Funding comes from the county. According to Commissioner Henry Craig, the insurance is “not overly expensive” and “reasonable.”
Closing the meeting, County Manager Carlos Tobar recognized Baldwin County Transit for reaching a milestone for delivering more than 10,000 trips to residents this year.