Habersham County’s budget for fiscal year 2026 was approved on Monday night, with all commissioners except Vice Chairman Bruce Harkness voting in favor of the approval. None of the roughly 20 county citizens moved to speak during the public hearing portion of the meeting.
The final approved budget totaled $80.37 million, which is a 5.23% decrease from the previous year’s total budget. However, the general fund budget will see a 4.19% increase compared to last year, totaling $40.88 million.
Harkness said that will result in a tax increase and that is one of the reasons why he voted against the spending measure.
Harkness said he believed the county’s Finance Department could have found more expenses to cut in the budget. One item he mentioned that needed revision was the increase in Recreation Department funds to repair the roofs of the dugouts at the Aquatic Center Sports Complex and Diamond Memorial Park in Clarkesville.
Funding for the project should come from the private sector, not the public, he said. “I’d love to get out there and help build new dugouts. I would even donate money. So we ought to explore options where businesses fund these projects instead of it going through taxes.”
Harkness said that there used to be one man in charge of Habersham’s airport, landfill, public works, road department, and fleet services who he claimed made $84,000 a year. He contrasted that amount to the $100,000 he claims that each manager and assistant manager is now making a year.
“I love our employees, but we’ve got 30 thousand voters here, and I know that I work for the employees but I also work for those 30 thousand,” he said.
Harkness also said that he’s looking out for people that are “less well off.”
“If taxes keep getting raised by four percent every year, there’s gonna be a lot of angry people come November,” he said.
On the contrary, Commissioner Ty Akins expressed that he was very satisfied with the budget.
“Every question and concern that I had was answered by Tim, who has done a good job as county manager,” Akins said. “I don’t know if any more effort could have been made to meet with us.”
It is still unclear how much taxpayers will be paying in taxes during the coming year. County Manager Tim Sims reported during the meeting that the tax digest was expected on Friday, but the vendor responsible for working the tax assessment software mistakenly increased the county’s exemptions introduced by GA House Bill 581. Sims did not give an estimate of when the digest will be completed after the exemptions are fixed.
This article has been updated.
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