Troup adopts 2026-2027 budget, tax rate

The Troup City Council adopted its 2026-2027 budget and tax rate during its Sept. 21 meeting.

The city’s budget totals $3,979,145.51, an increase of $139,854.94 over the 2025-2026 budget.

The overall budget consists of four funds: general, library, water and sewer and debt service.

The city’s general fund, or primary operational fund, has a budget of $2,670,129.13, which is 3.99% greater than the previous year.

The library fund, totaling $123,301.58 is 8.3% greater, the largest increase in year over year spending.

The water and sewer fund is larger by 2.35%, the smallest of the fund increases, and the debt service fund is 5.21% greater than in 2025-2026.

“One of the main drivers of this year's budget increase is an over $5,000 increase for each police officer and a 28% increase in health insurance premium,” City Manager Gene Cottle stated. “The city had been reimbursing employees $1,000 per year for the past couple of years, after we increased their deductible to decrease premiums. This budget does not include that reimbursement.”

The starting salary for a Troup police officer is more than $60,000 per year. According to Cottle, it wasn’t long ago the initial salary was less than $40,000 annually. According to tylerpolice.com, a police recruit starts at an annual salary of $72,080.

Other city employee pay increases range from 3.0% to 5.6%. The city of Troup employs 17 full-time and 1.64 full-time-equivalent employees.

The adopted budget also draws $150,000 from reserves in the general fund to pay for street repairs.

The water and wastewater rates are increased in this year’s budget. The minimum bill will increase $2.60 per month. Customers who use less than 2,001 gallons per month will have a monthly increase of $3.40 on their bills, while average users can expect an increase of $4.95.

The adopted tax rate of $0.538904 per $100 valuation is greater than last year’s tax rate by $0.040137.

The rate for 2026-2027 is expected to raise an additional $70,751, or 8.21%, over last year’s budget. The property tax revenue expected to be raised related to new property added to the tax roll this year is $18,807.

The no-new-revenue tax rate, which raises the same amount of revenue on the same properties taxed in 2025-2026, is 0.506708. Normally, a tax rate greater than the no-new-revenue rate would have to be approved by voters. However, municipalities with a population less than 30,000 people may also use a de minimis tax rate. The de minimis tax rate is the sum of the no-new-revenue rate, the rate that will raise $500,000 and the current debt rate for the city, which has been calculated as $0.804617. With the adopted tax rate lower than the de minimis rate, no voter approval is necessary.

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