It’s that time of year again: A look at Lexington County and other governing bodies' budget processes

Lexington County’s proposed 2025-26 fiscal year budget totals almost $65M more than its 2024-25 approved budget

June 30 is fast approaching, and that means local governing bodies are working towards having a balanced budget ready for the next fiscal year starting July 1.

Here’s a glimpse at Lexington County’s and other local entities’ budget processes.

County leaders during the March 25 meeting said they are in the request phase. This means they are currently hearing requests pertaining to the budget from various departments.

By April 22, they expect to have a recommended budget presented to council.

Thereafter, they’ll enter the work sessions phase. All of these meetings are open to the public.

And they will have the final budget approved by council by the end of June.

As of now, Lexington County leaders are a ways away from deciding whether to raise the millage rate or not.

“Once the recommended budget is presented, the council will be on notice of the possibility of a millage increase,” Council Chairman Todd Cullum told the Chronicle. “After receiving the recommended budget, we will continue to have budget meetings through the month of May. After those meetings, a possible increase will be more predictable.”

In short, millage, or a mill, is used to calculate local property taxes.

“One mill is equal to one thousandth of a dollar per $1 of assessed property value,” according to the Municipal Association of South Carolina. “If a city council approves a tax of 90 mills, then the taxpayer will pay $90 per $1,000 of assessed property value.”

Last year, county leaders did not adopt a tax increase, according to 2024 reporting from the Chronicle. Cullum at the time was reported saying that the county is managing growth and new expenses with the existing tax base, so the county’s operating millage continued at 98.639.

Budget votes and actions from Lexington County Council only impact the county portion of property owners’ taxes on real estate and autos or boats, Cullum recently told the Chronicle.

“From time to time, generally every five to seven years, the Lexington County Recreation and Aging Commission will request a millage increase,” he said. “The county council has the authority to change the millage on the recreation commission’s behalf. But, only for matters requiring a bond issue. The Recreation Commission sets and votes on their own operational budget. That value then equates to a mill value for tax collection.”

There are online documents anyone can view to learn more about what’s currently being discussed in the request phase of the county’s budget process.

On the Lexington County website, click on “Departments,” then under that, click on “Finance.” Once there, on the right side of the screen is a link to “Budget Documents.” On that page is the “Requested Budget Recap,” the “General Fund Requested Budget” and the “Non-General Fund Requested Budget.”

According to those documents, the 2025-26 fiscal year requested budget is $64,712,487 higher than the 2024-25 fiscal year approved budget. The 2025-26 fiscal year requested budget totals $366,116,648.

Fire service and law enforcement 2025-26 fiscal year requests show a $44,471,699 increase from the 2024-25 approved budget. Fire service and law enforcement’s 2025-26 fiscal year requested budget totals $245,753,273.

Again, these requested numbers are not set in stone.

County leaders are only in the beginning stages of the 2025-26 fiscal year budget process.

And they’re certainly not the only entity whose decisions may impact your property tax bill.

Here are some towns and cities in Lexington County that have started the 2025-26 fiscal year budget conversation (some have only listed it as an item on an upcoming agenda and some of them have already started the conversation during a recent council meeting):

• The town of Lexington is currently in its work sessions phase, with the first public work session having taken place on March 24. That meeting is available to view online.

• The City of Cayce is currently in its work sessions phase, with the first public work session having taken place on April 1. That meeting is available to view online.

• The Town of Irmo started talking about its 2025-26 budget in early March. Those meetings are available to view online.

“The school districts and municipalities have their own budget autonomy,” Cullum said. “Not all municipalities have authority to change millage in their respective jurisdictions. The school districts vote on their budgets and bonding issues. Schools receive the majority of the property tax collections for all real estate property, autos and boats. In the past, the schools have proven more likely to increase the millage than other millage entities.”

Here are some of the school districts in Lexington County that have started the 2025-26 fiscal year budget conversation (some have only listed it as an item on an upcoming agenda and some of them have already started the conversation during a recent board meeting):

• Lexington County School District One will hold a budget workshop on Tuesday, April 1. First reading of the proposed budget will be on April 22. The meetings are available to view online.

• Lexington County School District Four will hold a general fund budget workshop on April 28. The general fund was discussed during the March 10 meeting, too.

• Lexington-Richland School District Five has been discussing the general budget timeline and priorities. There was a workshop on March 10 and budget-related items on the March 24 agenda. This meeting is available to view online.

The Lexington County Chronicle will continue covering area budgets and millage rates.

Sophia Sousa contributed to this report.