The Anderson County Projected 2026 Budget came in quite a bit over what the county says they can afford. To offset, commissioners want to use $622,000 from a County Reserve fund in order to shore up a deficit in the county’s initial 2026 draft budget in order to meet the state’s “Revenue Neutral” mandate. Even with mill levy reductions in all but five line items in the proposed 2026 draft, the first draft would have reflected a 1.534 increase in the county mill levy that would have raised taxes on county property owners by $768,508, fueling a budget that authorizes some $1.4 million more in projected spending than the $14.9 million 2025 plan. General fund expenditures, which include employee salaries, contractual services and other expenditures, as well as a separate line item for additional employee benefits, are projected to increase some $440,000 year over year.
The budget draft is expected to be an agenda topic for commissioners throughout the next several weeks. The second draft of the budget is not yet binding and will not be adopted as official until its summary is published and until the conclusion of a public budget hearing, typically held in August or September.
