I attended the October 5, 2026, Camden County Commission meeting at 10:00 a.m.
All commissioners were present. Commissioner Gohagan was not wearing a coat.
The first portion of the meeting was the road petitions.
These petitioners are asking the Commission to vacate portions of county roads. They usually have to notify and collect signatures from neighbors and get a survey before the county will agree to abandon any claim to a road. Often these roads do not actually exist and are merely depicted on maps. The most important part of the process is guaranteeing that no other property owners are unintentionally landlocked as the result of a road vacation.
The first petition was “Avalon Park.” This was at 1343 Merlin Court. Commissioner Gohagan stated that the road had been abandoned for 5 years and the County Attorney confirmed this fact. Nobody was present for or against the petition. This was the second hearing on the matter and the Commission unanimously approved the road vacation.
The second road petition was “Dean’s Creek.” A portion of Rollins Creek Road was abandoned and runs through the petitioner’s property. The County Attorney confirmed it was abandoned and nobody was present regarding this petition. The Commission approved this road vacation unanimously.
The third road petition was “Duckhead Road.” This vacation was requested by the Horseshoe Bend Special Road District. Commissioner Gohagan explained that it was an easement. The Commission approved it unanimously.
The second agenda item was “September 2026 Budget/Revenue Update.”
The County Treasurer presented an update on the current revenue. The County Assessor did not appear and really hasn’t attended many Commission meetings since he lost in the primary election.
Camden County still has not touched its $6.22 million in reserves. Cash accounts for all funds show incoming revenue of $6.1 million and $5.7 million in expenditures. September sales tax revenue for 2026 was down 2.6% compared to September 2025, but the total sales tax revenue is up 4.6% YTD in 2026 over the same time period in 2025.
The final agenda item was “Kris Franken – Budget Workshop.”
Franken, the incoming County Auditor, discussed the ballot language that established the county’s base sales tax. According to Franken, the original half cent sales tax that was passed in the 1970’s was always intended to be used entirely to pay for the county’s roads.
The total intended tax revenue for roads is estimated to be $12.4 million. The Road and Bridge Administrator noted that the current budget for his department is $13.6 million. Presiding Commissioner Skelton and Franken discussed how that money might be directed back to Road & Bridge? Skelton felt that the shift should be incremental. It might create some pain for county departments, but in his opinion, it has been the community that has been feeling the pain on the county’s neglected roads over the years.
Franken wanted to ensure that reimbursements (such as state prisoners housed in the county jails) be funneled directly into the expense lines associated with them instead of just dumping most of the incoming revenue into general county revenue. This would give a clearer picture of which revenue streams were associated with which expenses.
Apparently, the county department heads were being permitted to move revenue that was allocated in the budget to unfilled employee positions into raises for their employees. These raises were approved by County Auditor Laughlin without bringing them before the Commission for approval as budget amendments. Franken intended to put a stop to this practice.
As far as future budget planning was concerned, Franken did not want to base the 2027 budget on the assumption that the county would experience record tax sale revenue every year. He recommended a revenue estimate that was more conservative, reflecting a 10% reduction from $30.420 million to $27.4 million. Franken explained that if there is a revenue windfall for Camden County, the Commission can always allocate surplus funds mid-year.
The Commission agreed to confirm the original intent of the Use Tax to allocate 100% of its sales tax revenue to Road & Bridge.
Franken pointed out that over the last 4 years, many of the county’s department budgets have increased significantly. The Commission seemed to be the lone exception. The Commission voted unanimously to institute a hiring freeze for all county departments with the exception of the Sheriff’s Office and the Road & Bridge Department.
As the meeting wound down, Franken asked the County Treasurer where the money for the county’s TIF payouts came from? She explained that they were paid monthly from the Use Tax to Fund 170.
For one of his first budget meetings, Incoming Auditor Franken performed well. He seemed to know the numbers, have a good grasp of the county budget, and more importantly, he was able to clearly explain the details and the decisions that needed to be made to build the 2027 budget.
And that was that.
