Commissioner John Marshall says this budget is his last
Gilmer County will enter 2026 with a budget.
Commissioners passed the budget at a special called meeting Dec. 22.
Following the motion and a second, Commissioner John Marshall asked to speak.
“I’m very, very honored to have been part of this particular budget,” Marshall said. “For many, many years, our county has needed to improve the retirement plan for its employees.
“I have made the decision that I’m not going to run again for this office, and I’m particularly pleased that I did have a part of this, a very vital decision.”
Employee retention is a large focus of Gilmer County’s 2026 budget.
“The really big change is the retirement benefits,” said Gilmer County Chair Charlie Paris.
In the current plan, Gilmer County matches a quarter for every dollar an employee adds to their retirement plan up to three percent of the employee’s salary.
As part of the new retirement plan, this will increase to a dollar for dollar match up to three percent. Another three percent will be added by the county even if the employee adds nothing to the retirement account.
These changes were made based on conversation with leadership in the fire department and the Gilmer County Sheriff’s Office. Both were losing employees to adjoining counties based on pay and retirement.
County employees are set to get raises in the budget, with many firefighters getting raises to bring their pay up to the standards of surrounding counties.
“We’re very hopeful that between the two of those, that will allow us to attract and retain good people,” Paris said.
Workers compensation insurance also had a dramatic increase, he mentioned.
Overall, the total budget for 2026 is $67,861,216, which is a 4.7 percent increase over the $64,814,797 in 2025.
The maintenance and operations budget makes up $53,973,798 of this total.