Approval of the proposed fiscal year 2024 Bulloch County government budget is a major item on the agenda for a called Board of Commissioners meeting, 8:30 a.m. Tuesday, June 27, at the Bulloch County Center for Agriculture, 151 Langston Chapel Road. In the photo above, County Manager Tom Couch explains the county’s position to citizens who attended a hearing there June 20. Most of the 11 citizens who addressed the commissioners opposed the budget’s 22% increase in projected general fund spending, for which a 1.75-mill increase in the property tax rate has been suggested after about 13% inflation in appraised property values was part of overall 18% growth in the tax digest. But more revenue is needed for the county to catch up on the cost of providing services and maintaining facilities while beginning to address population growth, Couch said.