Chattooga County Sole Commissioner Andy Allen says the county made it through the 2025 budget year without using a Tax Anticipation Note (TAN), a common short-term borrowing tool used by local governments to cover expenses while waiting for tax revenues to come in.

In a statement to WZQZ News, Allen said, “For the 2025 budget year, I’m glad to report that Chattooga County did not have to borrow any funds from the Tax Anticipation Note or TAN. While some years it will certainly be necessary, this year we were able to avoid it. I appreciate our elected officials, department heads, and supervisors for watching their bottom line and working together.”

Tax Anticipation Notes have been part of Georgia local government finance for decades. State law has authorized local governments to issue notes in anticipation of taxes since 1963, and today that authority is tied to the Georgia Constitution of 1983 and state code provisions that govern short-term borrowing for current-year expenses.

In Chattooga County, TAN borrowing has been a regular budget tool through the years. For more than 35 years, every Sole Commissioner has used TAN notes at some point to manage cash flow during the year when expenses come due before property tax revenues are collected.

Allen’s statement highlights that avoiding a TAN in 2025 is being viewed as a positive financial milestone, while recognizing that TAN borrowing remains an option for future years when cash flow makes it necessary.