County CFO told commissioners the preliminary FY2027 budget shows a roughly $1.9 million shortfall; the board discussed reversing part of last year's millage rollback, increasing the public safety fee, tapping fund balance, or redirecting the insurance-premium rebate to cover public safety costs.

Walker County Commissioners Court approved the FY2026-27 budget and adopted a property tax rate of 0.4690 per $100 of assessed value (operations 0.4512; debt 0.0178), a 2.6% effective increase. The actions were recorded by a roll-call vote after a public hearing and budget amendments.

The Walker County Board of Commissioners postponed a vote on the FY2027 budget after officials reported the proposed plan contains roughly $1,900,000 more in expenses than projected revenues; the board scheduled a work session before Sept. 30 to seek fixes.