By Delayna Earley
The Island News
Beaufort County Council has passed the 2026 budget for the new fiscal year to begin on July 1.
During their meeting on June 9, council members unanimously voted to pass the $199 million budget, which is more than $34 million more than 2025’s budget.
The budget raises the starting salary for deputies in the Beaufort County Sheriff’s Office, sets aside millions of dollars for capital improvement projects and adds a fourth shift for Emergency Medical Services (EMS) workers to help with staffing.
One major difference in the final draft of the budget was a move made to improve transparency for taxpayers – future tax bills are to include a breakdown that will show where taxpayer’s money is being used.
Revenues are projected to grow by about $40 million with most of the additional revenue coming from collections of property and personal taxes, amounting to about $24 million.
The county plans to keep the tax rate flat which means that the millage rate is not increasing overall.
Despite the tax rate not changing, taxpayers could receive a higher tax bill if their property was assessed at a higher amount.
The total millage is not changing, but the county is distributing funds differently.
One mil used to fund the Beaufort County Economic Development Corp. (BCEDC) will be redirected back to the county.
County operations will receive 4.2 mils more than they did last year, which is equal to $12 million.
General tax revenues are expected to bring in more than $140 million in the 2026 fiscal year including $1.4 million from tax penalties, $9.9 million from vehicle taxes, $126. 2 million from property taxes and $3.1 million from delinquent taxes.
Beaufort County’s fund balance will pay out $15 million that will be used to complete capital projects that are unfinished.
The county has allocated $36 million to put toward 92 capital improvement projects for the new fiscal year, including replacing turf in kennel yards for the county’s animal services department facilities, Wimbee Creek fishing pier replacement, interior renovations to the Beaufort County detention center, improvements to the Ribaut Road and Lady’s Island Drive intersection, building a new laboratory facility for Mosquito Control, replacing the HVAC at St. Helena Library on St. Helena Island and re-roofing the Hilton Head Island Library.
There will also be $11 million rolled over from last year’s budget that were approved for projects that have not been started.
Delayna Earley, who joined The Island News in 2022, formerly worked as a photojournalist for The Island Packet/The Beaufort Gazette, as well as newspapers in Indiana and Virginia. She can be reached at delayna.theislandnews@gmail.com.
