Fulton commission tees up budget vote that could increase property tax rate
Fulton County ended 2025 with $20 million more than projected six months ago, but county management is still proposing a budget that anticipates a property tax rate increase of more than 4%.
County Manager Dick Anderson and Chief Financial Officer Sharon Whitmore presented year-end financial results and the updated 2026 budget proposal Wednesday to the County Commission. The board could have approved a budget Wednesday but deferred the vote until Jan. 21.
The estimated tax rate is unchanged from November’s initial budget proposal, but the update includes about $19.5 million more for compliance with a federal legal agreement to improve miserable conditions at the Fulton County Jail.
That brings the total amount for compliance with the agreement, known as a consent decree, to about $53 million — triple what the county spent last year.
Much of it will likely be spent on hiring detention officers for the dangerously understaffed jail, Anderson said. Fulton has spent millions on hiring drives and recruitment and retention incentives, and this year’s budget proposal includes cost-of-living raises.
The county is still awaiting a third-party analysis of staffing levels and practices.
“We know what we need to commit to that,” Anderson said. “That needs to be the highest priority within the jail.”
Commissioners said the budget proposal will need further revisions to support two new state court judges set to be appointed next week. State court handles misdemeanor and traffic cases as well as civil litigation.
Solicitor General Keith Gammage, Court Administrator Donald Talley, the current and previous chief state court judges and a representative from the public defender’s office said more attorneys and other staffers are needed.
Under the budget proposal presented Wednesday, the new judges would have fewer attorneys assigned to their courtrooms than the established judges. The proposal funds $2.8 million for new state court positions out of a requested $5.1 million.
“These are minimum constitutional standards,” Gammage said. “Someone may get stabbed in this dilapidated jail who needed mental health treatment, but my prosecutors have 500 cases to manage and one of the cases might have 12 charges.”
Some commissioners asked Whitmore to reallocate funding instead of increasing the proposed budget for state court staffing. Some of the costs could come out of the consent decree account, Commissioner Bob Ellis said.
“I think we all want to see this come out of the gate with success,” he said.
The overall budget would total nearly $1.1 billion, an increase of about 16% over last year’s spending.
The County Commission sets property tax rates in the summer, but the budget proposal is built on the assumption that the general fund tax rate would increase by 0.39 mills, or 39 cents for every $1,000 in assessed property value. That would cost $62.40 for the owner of a home with a fair market value of $400,000.
Some commissioners reiterated requests for other funding not included in the proposed budget, totaling millions for health care assistance and homelessness initiatives. But other commissioners cautioned that county taxpayers can only bear so much.
“I’m not going to support a millage rate increase,” said Commissioner Khadijah Abdur-Rahman, who was chosen Wednesday as this year’s vice chair. “I’m not, under any circumstances, in 2026, when people are losing jobs and have so many other burdens.”
Fulton commissioners considered a tax rate increase last summer but held it steady after a public outcry — and a midyear financial report that showed a $69 million surplus.
“Let’s talk about the millage rate when we get to the millage rate,” Commissioner Marvin Arrington Jr. said.
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