On Monday, the White County Board of Commissioners held the first of the required public hearings on the fiscal year 2024 county budget.
County finance director Jodi Ligon said the total proposed budget is $35,128,025, a 9.6% increase from the FY 2023 budget. Of that, $27.9 million dollars is the general fund budget, with other funds making up the remainder.
According to Ligon, this new budget contains funding for new positions and position changes, health insurance premium increases, cost of living and merit increases for county employees, employee PTO payouts, and a new emergency medical service or ambulance service contract increase.
The county will use $2.4 million in fund balance to meet the budget. Funding for capital items and projects will come from SPLOST tax receipts.
The new budget, even with the increases, should allow the commissioners to hold the line on the county’s 9.505 tax millage rate.
The commissioners are expected to approve the budget later this month, and commissioners expect to set this year’s tax millage rate at the end of July.
