At first glance, Bryan County’s recently approved 2026 budget of $178 million in revenue and more than $173 million in spending dwarfs that of neighboring counties with higher populations.
Effingham County Commissioners, for example, reportedly recently passed a $60 million budget. Bulloch County’s budget 2026 weighs in at $72 million, and Bulloch’s population in 2025 is estimated at 86,576 while Effingham’s was projected to be more than 75,000, according to various estimates.
Bryan County, by contrast, projected a population of around 52,000 in 2025.
But there’s a reason for that disparity. Bryan County’s budget continues to reflect investments on infrastructure such as water and sewer, with much of it directly related to the Hyundai plant.
For example, more than $125 million in revenue in the 2026 budget passed Dec. 9 by commissioners is lumped into what the county calls a special fund, and includes funding from E911 surcharges, water and sewer user fees, SPLOST and TSPLOST, impact fees and the American Rescue Act.
Subtract those special funds from the county’s 2026 budget, which is further broken down into countywide services and unincorporated services, and it drops to more than $53 million for county operations – which is far more in line with spending by similar counties and equates to roughly $1,000 per resident.
And, of that approximately $53,000 million in revenue covering countywide and unincorporated services, more than $44 million comes from taxes, including the local option sales tax and property taxes.
As is regularly the case with the government, much of the spending is on people.
More than $33 million in the county’s 2026 budget will go to salaries and benefits for the county’s projected 417 full time and 50 part time employees across a 35 departments, an amount that includes a 2 percent cost of living raise for full time workers and a 1 percent longevity increase, while approximately $11.4 million will go to contracted services, such as engineering.
As the county’s population has grown, so has its countywide and unincorporated services budgets, from slightly more than a combined $20 million in 2017 to $52 million for 2026.
A large portion of the county’s spending on countywide services – services provided to everyone in the county regardless of where they live – goes to public safety, with the Bryan County Sheriff’s Office budgeted for nearly $7.6 million in 2026, while the county expects to spend more than $7 million on emergency medical services and $3.7 million on detention services. Another $1.09 million is budgeted for the clerk of courts office.
The county government is budgeted at $4.3 million for 2026, public works at around $3.8 million and recreation at more than $2 million. The tax commissioner and tax assessor’s offices are each budgeted at more than $1 million.
Another $1.5 million will go to E-911, which is also supported by special funds.
The Development Authority of Bryan County, which last year received $577,650 in county funding, won’t receive any county funds in 2026.
Animal Control, which has recently been the subject of criticism from rescue groups, will get $500,000 in funding in 2026, up $460,000 in 2025.
The county’s 230 page budget, which is available online, includes vast amounts of detail, and provides interesting looks at just how and where money goes – the county government expects to spend about $100,000 on legal fees in 2026, for example – as well as where it comes from.
A further breakdown of revenue for countywide services shows about $19.2 million in projected property taxes and another $2.1 million in payment in lieu of taxes.
Other major projected sources of revenue in 2026 for countywide services include $8.1 million in Local Option Sales Taxes, $3.6 million in title ad valorem taxes and $1.47 million to collect the school board’s property taxes.
The county also expects to bring in about $1.7 million in state court fines, forfeitures and penalties and another $1.7 million in charges for emergency services, such as ambulances, as well as about $1.1 million in interest on investments.
Also included in the county’s budget are some interesting demographics, such as the median age of its residents is 34.7 years, the average household size is 2.9 people and about 34.6 percent have a bachelor’s degree or higher. About 12.8 percent are veterans.
What’s more, the county’s estimated median household income in 2026 will be $100,500 – up from $94,234 in 2025 – and the median home value in Bryan County in 2025 is $375,000.
The median rent in Bryan County? It’s $2,230 a month.