Bamberg County council approves smaller tax increase in divided vote
Council trimmed the EMS tax hike after Ehrhardt residents pushed back, then approved a 6-1 budget that still shifts county spending and services.
Bamberg County Council backed away from the steepest part of its proposed tax increase after several Ehrhardt residents objected to an EMS millage hike that would have helped fund a Quick Response Vehicle station. The amended FY 25-26 budget passed 6-1 on June 27, 2025, leaving county government with a smaller tax burden but also without the added revenue tied to that plan.
The budget fight centered on how much more taxpayers should absorb as county costs kept climbing. Controller Gina Smith told council that higher health insurance bills, rising retirement costs and inflation were pushing the numbers up, while Thorne Ambulance Service had proposed a QRV resource station in Ehrhardt. The public hearing notice put the county’s total all-funds revenues and expenditures at $26,263,465 for FY 25-26, compared with $25,883,905 in FY 24-25.
Before council rewrote the plan, the notice showed operations millage rising from 128.9 to 132.7 mills, EMS and rescue climbing from 20.6 to 35.1 mills, and debt service increasing from 9.5 to 13.5 mills. After public objection from Ehrhardt residents at the June 23 hearing, council removed the EMS millage increase that would have funded the QRV station. Councilman Spencer Donaldson acknowledged that not everyone would be pleased after the vote.
The amendment also came with shifting priorities inside the budget itself. The notice showed the general fund increasing from $11,505,955 to $12,987,790, while the capital project fund dropped from $7,241,695 to $5,832,665. Administrator Joey Preston said the FY 25-26 budget would help support the Bamberg County Public Works Department, the Bamberg County Sheriff’s Office and the Bamberg County Detention Center.
County officials were still defending their financial footing months later. In a March 10, 2026 audit presentation, Bamberg County said it earned an unmodified, or clean, audit opinion, and reported $1,095,824 in FY25 federal awards. Even so, the budget episode showed how quickly tax policy in Bamberg County turns into a debate over what residents will pay for, and what the county can no longer afford to expand.
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