Oconee County Commissioners To Consider 22 Percent Increase In County's Budget

Oconee County Commissioners, in a called meeting Tuesday night, will be asked to give final approval to a Fiscal Year 2017 budget that is nearly 22 percent larger than for the current fiscal year and that includes an average property tax increase of approximately 5 percent.

The county’s millage rate will remain unchanged from this year, but the balanced budget is predicated on an expected 5 percent increase in the county’s tax digest. That increase translates into increased individual property taxes.

The budget includes $11.9 million in spending of Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax Revenue, up from $5.4 million a year ago, and a Utility Department Budget of $9.1 million, up from $8.5 million in the current budget.

The Commission will hold a hearing on the budget before the vote, and citizens opposed to the county’s plans for its Calls Creek sewer plant are likely to raise questions.

In addition, county Parks and Recreation Department Director John Gentry has taken the unusual step of asking members of the Citizens Advisory Committee on Recreational Affairs to come to the meeting and object to a budget that Gentry claims will require him to eliminate programs.

For more on the story, go to Oconee County Observations.

Pictured: Finance Director Wes Geddings.