Bulloch commissioners launch 2-day 'retreat' for county budget requests

Being held at Gene Bishop Field House 9 a.m.–maybe 4:30 p.m., Weds. & Thurs.

District Attorney Robert Busbee, the four-county Ogeechee Judicial Circuit's elected lead prosecutor, speaks to the Bulloch County Board of Commissioners on Tuesday about successes, long-term problems he believes he and his staff solved during his first year in office and continuing challenges. A presentation of his funding request is slated for Wednesday afternoon during the first day of the commissioners' two-day, March 18–19, budget retreat. (AL HACKLE/staff)

Busbee speaks to commissioners — District Attorney Robert Busbee, the four-county Ogeechee Judicial Circuit's elected lead prosecutor, speaks to the Bulloch County Board of Commissioners on Tuesday about successes, long-term problems he believes he and his staff solved during his first year in office and continuing challenges. A presentation of his funding request is slated for Wednesday afternoon during the first day of the commissioners' two-day, March 18–19, budget retreat. (AL HACKLE/staff)

Bulloch County's commissioners are holding a two-day budgeting "retreat" Wednesday and Thursday, March 18 and March 19, beginning at 9 a.m. each day and expected to last well into the afternoons. Despite the name, these are public sessions, here in Statesboro in the Gene Bishop Field House, which is on the west end of Paulson Stadium.

This could be the week when the Board of Commissioners meets for the most hours of any week in 2026, since the regular meeting that started at

8:30 a.m. Tuesday — St. Patrick's Day — already lasted more than two hours.

But the pressing business to begin with the retreat, slated to last up to 15 hours more, is the creation of the county government's fiscal year 2027 budget. In the usual course of things, the budget would be adopted by the commissioners in June at the latest for the year beginning July 1, 2026, and lasting until June 30, 2027.

As approved last June, the current, FY '26 budget authorized about $72.1 million in general fund spending.

Commissioners Chairman David Bennett invited anyone who is interested and has the time to attend the retreat.

"I just want to encourage the public to come on out," Bennett said Tuesday morning. "I know it's a huge time commitment to sit there for two days. If you can't come for the whole thing, come when you can. But if you want to understand the challenges and the future outlook of what's going on in the county, this is the opportunity to do those things."

During the retreat, leaders — some elected and some appointed — of county departments as well as representatives of some agencies that are partly county-funded will make presentations. About 30 departments, offices and agencies are listed on the tentative schedule.

During Tuesday's regular meeting, Bennett asked county Chief Financial Officer Kristie King to describe the Wednesday–Thursday retreat.

"It will follow the same format that it has the last couple of years," King said. "So, we'll hear from department heads on what they have going on, opportunities, challenges, the staffing outlook, needs, and their future outlook for capital, all of those kinds of things."

By "capital," she meant capital spending, such as major equipment purchases or building or renovation projects. These are usually budgeted over a period of years, from sources such as the Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax, called SPLOST, or the transportation purposes sales tax, called T-SPLOST, instead of from the annual general fund budget, which is supplied by property taxes, other taxes such utility franchise taxes, and in some cases specific fees and fines.

Each day of the retreat could last from "9 o'clock till about 4 or 4:30," King said.

"We'll see," she added. "Last year I know we got ahead of schedule and had some downtime. So it's hard to estimate how long everybody's going to talk, but hopefully we'll keep it moving and they'll be interesting and have some good information for you."

Wednesday session

Since "Finance" is the department listed first, King is expected to give the introduction Wednesday, 9–9:30 a.m.; then the scheduled departments or functions are Human Resources and Risk Management, 9:30–10 a.m.; Tax Assessor and GIS, 10–10:15 a.m.; then after a 15-minute break, the Tax Commissioner, 10:30–10:45 a.m. Recreation and Parks appears to be allotted a full hour, 10:45–11:45 a.m., before a lunch break lasting to 1 p.m.

Wednesday afternoon's presentations are slated to be given by or on behalf of Development Services, 1–1:30 p.m.; Engineering, 1:30–2 p.m.; Emergency Management, 2–2:15 p.m.; Road Maintenance, 2:15–2:30 p.m., followed by a 15-minute break; then Solid Waste, 2:45–3:15 p.m.; Facilities, 3:15–3:30 p.m.; Magistrate Court, 3:30–3:45 p.m.; Probate Court, 3:45–4 p.m.; the Coroner's Office, 4–4:15 p.m.; and District Attorney's Office, 4:15–4:30 p.m.

Thursday session

A second-day intro is slated for 9–9:15 a.m. Thursday, followed by the Clerk of Courts, 9:15–9:30 a.m.; State Court, 9:30–9:45 a.m.; State Court Solicitor, 9:45–10 a.m.; Elections Office, 10–10:15 a.m.; then a break. The Emergency Medical Service is slated to present 10:30–11:15 a.m. Thursday, followed by the Bulloch County Fire Department, 11:15 a.m.–noon, and then lunch.

Thursday afternoon, the Sheriff's Office presentation is slated for 1–1:45 p.m.; the E-911 Center, 1:45–2 p.m.; Adult Probation, 2–2:15 p.m.; Animal Services, 2:15–2:30 p.m.; then a break. The final presentations slated are those of Bulloch County Correctional Institution, 2:45–3 p.m.; Fleet Maintenance, 3–3:15 p.m.; and Statesboro-Bulloch County Airport, 3:15–3:45 p.m.

County Manager Chris Eldridge and CFO Kristie King are slated to facilitate the closing discussion, 3:45–4:15 p.m. Thursday. But as King indicated, any of these times may be subject to adjustment.