DeKalb County Finance, Audit and Budget Committee Reviews FY2027 Requests on October 27, 2026

On October 27, 2026, the Finance, Audit and Budget Committee, chaired by Commissioner Ted Terry, met to approve routine items and hear FY2027 budget presentations from the Superior Court, State Court, Tax Commissioner, and Sheriff's Office. Commissioner Michelle Longspears stepped out briefly but returned; Commissioners Shakira Johnson, Patrick, and others participated. No public comment period appeared in the transcript.

Consent Calendar

• The committee approved the minutes of the October 12 special call meeting (item 1493) by voice vote with no changes.
• No public comments were heard.

Contracting Item

• Change Order No. 5 to Contract No. 1136419, inventory of capital assets, was approved. The change order increases funds to a total not to exceed $500,000 and extends the term through December 31, 2029, with HCA Asset Management LLC. Finance Director McNabb said the county has roughly $2.8 billion in fixed assets and the vendor uses tag-reading technology to conduct inventories.

Superior Court FY2027 Budget Presentation

• Chief Judge Shondina Morris and Court Administrator Hawkins Ponzo presented Superior Court's priorities.
• Superior Court reported 11,406 cases closed across all 10 divisions in 2025, a 112 percent cumulative clearance rate, a 195.7 percent murder clearance rate, more than 175,000 jury summons issued, and 75 completed jury trials. For 2026, the court reported 68 adoptions disposed (94 percent clearance), 456 serious violent felonies (128 percent clearance), and 1,663 divorces (105 percent clearance).
• The court requested a total of $2,212,000, including $772,000 for personnel for an 11th judge, $185,000 for senior judge support, $100,000 for security at the off-site accountability court office, $250,000 for judicial security, $150,000 for computer equipment and software, $175,000 for court administration, $30,000 for digital court reporters, $175,000 for jury management and juror summons, and $10,000 for dispute resolution.
• Judge Morris said DeKalb has 10 Superior Court judges 'doing the work of 12' and that the 11th judgeship has been authorized by the Council of Superior Courts and the Georgia Supreme Court Chief Justice.
• The court administrator clarified that the $772,000 request is for personnel only; courtroom capital needs are part of a separate CIP request. COO Williams said roughly $3.4 million to $3.5 million is set aside in CIP for a courtroom build-out, but that figure may be outdated and needs an updated cost estimate.
• Judge Morris said a larger courtroom is needed for multi-defendant gang and RICO murder cases and is a future request; the near-term ask is for an 11th judge's courtroom.
• Commissioner Massey asked about pro se litigants; Judge Morris estimated a 40 to 45 percent increase in her division and said the family law information center currently receives $50,000 and relies on volunteer attorneys. The court agreed to add a request for a paid staff attorney for the law clinic after Commissioner Massey asked for one.
• Commissioner Terry asked for a memo separating one-time and ongoing costs.

State Court FY2027 Budget Presentation

• Chief Judge Mike Jacobs, Judge Kimberly Anderson, and Court Administrator Edwin Bell presented. Judge Anderson becomes chief judge on January 1.
• State Court and Magistrate Court jointly employ about 350 people, including judges' staffs, probation, marshal's office, and shared clerk's office.
• Requests included sworn marshal benefits parity with police; vehicle replacements for the marshal's office and probation; judicial security positions and equipment after a serious threat to a judge; clerk's office training and staffing; and new clerk positions for new case loads.
• Magistrate Court's civil jurisdictional limit rises from $15,000 to $25,000 on January 1, expected to increase small-claims filings. New school-bus-camera citations, with fines up to $1,000, will go to State Court Division B; Judge Jacobs said other jurisdictions are seeing an 'avalanche' of such cases.
• Commissioner Longspears calculated the requested capital total as $2,560,000 and the operating total as $1,605,641. COO Williams said vehicle purchases are treated as an operating expense, not capital.
• Commissioner Patrick asked that vehicle purchases follow the county's resolution encouraging electric vehicles.
• Judge Jacobs said State Court plans a pilot in two divisions, led by himself and Judge Charlie Bailey, using judicially supervised mental-health treatment as a special bond condition. It is not in this year's request but is expected to be in next year's request.

Tax Commissioner FY2027 Budget Presentation

• Tax Commissioner Golden requested a salary line increase of about $356,000, later cited as $356,441, offset by $255,000 in reductions elsewhere, for a net increase of about $101,000 over the current budget.
• He said the office collects nearly $2 billion per year in taxes, with about $670 million going to DeKalb County, and that attrition and retention are driven primarily by pay. He expects to return about $155,000 in salary savings this year and noted five new employees started that day.
• Commissioners praised the office's community outreach and customer service and expressed support for the request.

Sheriff's Office FY2027 Budget Presentation

• Chief Atkins and Senior Fiscal Officer Carla Campbell presented the Sheriff's Office request.
• The FY2027 request is $108.3 million, a 3.8 percent increase over the FY2026 adopted budget of $104.3 million. The roughly $4 million increase includes about $1.9 million for the full-year cost of a 5 percent salary adjustment, a 6 percent medical services contractual increase, a 5.5 percent dental services increase, and food service costs rising from about $5 million to about $6 million, including a 3.7 percent contractual increase.
• The overtime request remains at $7.7 million; $6 million had already been spent through October 16, attributed to mandatory overtime and unfilled deputy positions.
• Chief Atkins separately asked for deputy benefits parity with the police and fire departments, noting that the request is not included in the budget figures.
• Chief Atkins also said the Sheriff's Office supported the court security response to the judge-related threat.

Key Outcomes

• The committee approved the October 12 meeting minutes and the HCA asset inventory change order unanimously.
• The FY2027 budget presentations were received; no formal votes were taken on the budget requests themselves at this meeting.
• Superior Court will provide a law-clinic staff attorney request and a one-time versus ongoing cost breakdown; COO Williams will bring back an updated courtroom build-out cost estimate.
• The Sheriff's Office was asked to provide updated 2026 data on incarcerated criminal-trespass misdemeanants with mental health or substance abuse diagnoses and associated costs, with additional breakdowns by overall population growth, incident type, public or private origin, jurisdiction, and any additional charges.
• The committee adjourned after the presentations and discussion.