Tuesday at 9 a.m. Decatur County commissioners plan to finalize the 2025 fiscal year budget. Millions of dollars are anticipated for public safety and public works. Watch the story to hear how neighbors feel county funds should be spent.
BROADCAST TRANSCRIPT:
Leaders in South Georgia are working toward approving a budget that could affect your neighborhood.
Im adding up Decatur Countys 2025 proposed budget.
An estimated $14 million designated to public safety Over $9 million towards public works A little over $1 million to housing and development
Those are just some of the big expenses in this year’s proposed budget right now. Back in May commissioners held a public hearing which allowed for public comment.
However not one person used that time to comment.
So I set out to talk to people around the city asking where they felt more county funding should go, “I would like to see more activities for the kids,” said Bainbridge resident, Tina Neal.
While other neighbors said, “I like that they put a lot of money into this park area [Earle May Boat Basin] and it goes all the way back to the campground. It’s beautiful, said Mary Williams, Attapulgus resident. They’ve added lighting. And I would like to see it continue to make that [lighting] better.”
I also checked in on West Bainbridge for input.
That’s where I found Diane Smith.
She’s lived here, “over twenty years, according to Diane Smith, a west Bainbridge resident.
I asked her where she’d like to see money spent.
“Pave the street.. A lot of them have back pot holes and stuff, said Smith.
Find a copy of the 2025 Decatur county Budget here.