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ZEBULON - The Pike County Board of Commissioners held a Budget Meeting on May 8, 2026 at the EMA Building out by Public Works. The public was invited to attend. This meeting can be viewed on the Pike County Times Facebook page and on the Pike County Times YouTube page.

Click here to see a copy of the Budget Worksheets: http://pikecountytimes.com/secondary/BUDGETSUMMARYWORKSHEET2026-2027.xlsx

Click here to see a copy of the original proposed budget: http://pikecountytimes.com/secondary/FY2026-2027Proposed%20Budget.pdf

No bonuses or raises across the board are included here. (More shortly.)

Fire Department asked for 2 additional FT spots.

Reduction in Contingency from $100,000 to $50,000. Trying to maintain services with keeping the budget the same as last year. Millage rate of 8.94. Digest is due by July 1.

What is a 3% across the board raise? Looking at 1%, 2%, and 3% increase. Done 2 ½ in the past couple of years. About 180 employees will be budgeting for including on the Constitutional officers. If they can justify the need, we are obligated by law to fund their needs.

Budget last year was $10.6 million. It appears that we over-projected the amount that we were going to collect last year.

We’re going out for bid on insurance this year, but traditionally, prices have gone up every year.

Tax Assessor used the open appraiser position to fund Norman Appraisals to help with getting things done there.

SPLOST runs out in 2028.

Fire Department.

Have 2 FT in Zebulon. Asking for another 2 FT in Concord. 630 calls up until 3 weeks ago. And 1/3 are over that side of the county. 30 to 40% EMS calls, 20 to 30% traumatic injuries, and 10 to 20% are fires. 32 calls in April out of Concord. Zebulon is the hotspot. We need both and not an either/or. $280,000 to $295,000 for the extra 2 FT firefighters. 10 minutes just to get to Concord. We have great volunteers out there, but they still have to go to the station and take the truck out. A training facility will help with the ISO, but that is part of the county facilities plan for later on down the road. Have to have 2 people.

Ameripro.

$925,000 is what we’re looking at for next year.

District Attorney’s Office.

$113,000 more than last year. Raises, services, and a victim/witness advocate requested. This person is just for Pike County. We are not being required to provide the same staff as other counties.

Animal Control

Down one vehicle. $92,000 for a new one.

Solid Waste.

Contract for ongoing monitoring with several wells out there with Harbin and Associates. $150,000- 195,000 in costs. Additional wells or trenching. We can get reimbursed from a Hazardous Mitigation fund.

Senior Citizens Center.

Biggest item is related to meals. $80,000 for meals. Year before was less. We’re going on actuals.

Dept 61 - Parks & Rec.

Need to bring in more money to help pay for needs. Half of the cars are from outside of the county. We shouldn’t be subsidizing other counties. We’re still at $750,000. Morton. The goal is for authorities to be self-sufficient. All of them. Not just this one.

Dept 74 – Planning and Development

Animal Control Officer has experience with Code Enforcement. 20 hours out of current work to what is needed for both departments. If he goes over and above, he will have to be paid for that. Trying to minimize impact on the budget.

EMA

Down by $6,000, but it’s because we only have one matching grant this year. Some years it is more.

Ag Department

$28,000 annual payment for building offset like a lease for 4H, etc. because a county building was built on Ag Department property. This will be an agribusiness facility at the end of the agreement.

Security cameras for the County

Received a proposal from IT for similar cameras at EMA and Public Works. Just under $10,000. Not included in the budget book yet.

Morton. Clint Chastain has done a great job pulling all of this information together for the county. Morton. If y’all go with a rollback rate, adjustments will have to be made to the budget.

Who fills in for Clint Chastain if he isn’t there? Do we need to cross-train? Morton. County Manager is the budget officer. I have the same access as Clint does. At some point, we’ll need to look at that. We also have our monthly CPA which is separate from our auditor so we can use them if needed as well. [Note from the Editor: Cross-training is priceless even if it is just for the everyday things in those offices. If someone ends up sick for a week at a time, someone could fill in with the things that have to be done, and the specialty stuff could wait until that person returned.]

Do we use AI? Morton. We use it cautiously and verify the information.

Chairman Johnson thanked staff for their work on this.

Adjourn. 2:52 p.m.