The Habersham County Board of Commissioners will hold its second and final public hearing on the county’s proposed $80 million budget for fiscal year 2026. The hearing will take place at 6 p.m. on Monday, June 30, in the jury assembly room at the county courthouse on Llewellyn Street.
The first hearing, held on June 24, drew only a small crowd, with a few residents in attendance.
Commissioners Ty Akins, Kelly Woodall, Jimmy Tench, Dustin Mealor, and Bruce Harkness used the session to present budget goals focused on reducing overall spending and reprioritizing capital projects. The proposed total budget across all funds stands at $80.25 million, down 5.38% from the previous year.
Now Habersham requested a copy of the itemized budget under consideration, but was denied, based on Interim Finance Director Kiani Holden saying she did not have an itemized budget “finalized at this time.”
“I’ll be happy to send you a document broken down that way once I have it into our accounting software. That would be after the budget gets approved and adopted.” Holden said, adding, “I don’t put anything into the system until we have it approved.”
After filing a second request, Habersham County Clerk Brandy Carnes provided the requested documentation.
Differences in capital planning
Each commissioner submitted proposed capital plans to help guide next steps. Four of the five—Akins, Woodall, Tench, and Mealor—recommended totals above $1 million in General Fund Capital Improvement Projects and Purchases. Commissioner Bruce Harkness diverged significantly, proposing $523,148.
Harkness also reduced his proposed total for Special Revenue Fund capital items to $783,822, noting that $399,137 in airport lighting upgrades would be covered by a grant. His colleagues each recommended $963,822.
Despite those differences, all five commissioners agreed to limit General Fund capital improvement spending to $220,000, a show of unified fiscal restraint.
After the meeting, Harkness explained that he is going over “every line item of expenses and I question every expenditure because that is why I was elected.” He called it his “duty and responsibility to the taxpayers of this grand county to question every penny and fight to hold taxes down.”
“I was elected to be a good steward of the tax dollars paid by the taxpayers in this county,” Harkness said. “Every dime that this government spends comes out of the pockets of the working men and women in this county, and I believe that it is my duty to make sure every dime is spent properly for our county now and for our county in the future.”
Public safety and staffing shifts
Still, several proposed increases raised questions, particularly in public safety and health. Among them is the sharp rise in spending in the sheriff’s office.
Under the proposed budget, the sheriff’s office budget is expected to increase by $711,274 in 2026.
Habersham County Financial Administrator/Interim Finance Director Kiani Holden said the increase reflects budget “reallocations” rather than new hires as previously stated. She said two code enforcement officers previously funded through the Planning and Development Department were moved under the sheriff’s office, and one of two public information officers previously assigned to the county manager’s office was transferred to the sheriff’s office and now also works in code enforcement.
“We moved those over to the Sheriff’s Office because it made more sense for his oversight of those specific positions,” Holden said. She also explained that the increase also accounts for the addition of health insurance benefits in the sheriff’s office budget.
Spending for health services is also slated to rise in this year’s proposed budget. The Health Department, which was budgeted $35,000 last year, is set to receive $198,788 in 2026—returning to levels seen in 2022.
The proposed 2026 budget also adds recycling as a new budget item, with $2,734,361 in recommended funding for 2026.
The commission will hold a second public hearing and vote on the proposed budget at a called meeting at 6 p.m. on June 30. The meeting will be held at the Habersham County Courthouse.
