Shannon WhitfieldLAFAYETTE, Ga. - After the fourth property tax increase in five years, Walker County Commissioner Shannon Whitfield touted the sheriff's office's biggest budget ever.
Whitfield unveiled a portion of his spending plan for the upcoming fiscal year during a special called meeting Thursday night. Among the highlights? About $8 million for the sheriff's office, an increase of about $274,000 over last year. The highlights include salary bumps, about $40,000 more for training, and about $36,000 more for technical contracted services.
"It's a workable, doable budget that we can work with next year," Sheriff Steve Wilson said. " I appreciate (Whitfield) hearing us out, working with us."
"The sheriff's department has the greatest need that they've ever had for law enforcement and protection of our citizens in the county," Whitfield said. "We've also been able to provide them the largest budget they've ever had. That doesn't give them everything they would like to have as a resource. But it is moving in the right direction."
Wilson said the budget is, in fact, the biggest the county has ever had "but that stands to reason each year with growth and the costs of goods and services."
The commissioner unveiled a draft budget for the county's constitutional officers. In addition to the sheriff, it includes the magistrate, probate court judge, tax commissioner and clerk of superior court. Budgets for the magistrate and probate court judge remained relatively flat.
Two other increases? About $100,000 more to Tax Commissioner Carolyn Walker, who needs to buy new equipment for an updated tag renewal program required by the state. Also, Clerk of Superior Court Carter Brown will get $52,000 to hire two additional employees.
The move is a modest win for Brown, who took it on the chin three straight years. From Fiscal Year 2016 to Fiscal Year 2018, which wraps up Sept. 30, Whitfield and former Commissioner Bebe Heiskell gradually cut his budget by a total of $135,000. This was a 20 percent cut in funding for his department.
Last year, Brown protested Whitfield's budgeting process. The commissioner, who had taken office that January, didn't unveil his budget until less than 30 minutes before a public meeting. Residents didn't know how he was going to use their money. Department heads like Brown didn't even know what they were getting.
Brown, whose budget got slashed by about $60,000 in that meeting, told Whitfield his budget process had been illegal. He then left without explanation. (Whitfield later conceded he had erred; he was supposed to release a budget at least a week before passing it.)
This year, Brown's tune was much different. He told those in attendance that the county was in a financial predicament, with about $70 million of debt when Whitfield took office.
"We are strong-minded individuals," Brown said. "Y'all have figured that out by now. And we have different ways of looking at things. Well that combination sometimes can lead to differences of opinion and strong disagreements. But I am convinced, the legacy of this group of public officials will not be our disagreements, our differences."
The documents Whitfield released Thursday represent only a fraction of the total budget. Among other departments, it does not include animal control, the road department, the district attorney's office, the civic center and Whitfield's own office.The commissioner believes he will pass a final budget by the end of September. Though not official, Whitfield said there is a "strong, strong possibility" that the figures released Thursday will be part of the final budget.
Of the five departments covered Thursday, spending increased from about $9 million last year to about $9.4 million, a 4.6 percent bump. Overall, Whitfield expects the general fund budget to be $24-$25 million this year.
During the meeting, Whitfield also passed this year's property tax rate, which remains almost identical to last year. (Residents in the incorporated parts of the county will see an increase from 13.129 mills to 13.330 mills.)
Overall, though, the county will take in about $264,000 more this year because some people's property values increased, leading to a higher bill. Since 2014, when Heiskell boosted tax revenue by 54 percent, the county has increased this cash flow in four of five years. But this year's is the smallest of those bumps.
Last year's was a different story. According to the tax digest, Whitfield brought in about $2.5 million more over the previous year, a 21.8 percent increase. But that only tells part of the story. Whitfield also created a special "tax district," which covers the entire county. He created a revenue stream that appears technically different from the county's property tax levy, with the money set aside to pay off an $8.7 million debt to Erlanger Health System over three years.
But while the tax is technically different, it affects the property owner in the same way. Factoring this money in, the county actually increased property taxes 50-70 percent last year.
Michael Peardon, who unsuccessfully ran against Whitfield in the 2016 Republican primary, said Thursday that yet another tax increase this year is too much for residents. He pointed out that residents also voted for a new 1 percent sales tax last November.
"If we can't work within what we have, something's wrong," he said. "We've been taxed and taxed and taxed. And I know you have a mountain to climb. We all have a mountain to climb...This is a poor county."
Paul Probus, who lives off Social Security with his wife, added, "With no increase in income, everything around us in our life has gone the other direction."
Contact staff writer Tyler Jett at 423-757-6476 or tjett@timesfreepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @LetsJett.