Key highlights of what Columbus mayor said at his final State of the City event
During the 2026 State of the City event Tuesday, Columbus Mayor Skip Henderson provided an optimistic outlook on Columbus and warned decisions about taxes in the state legislature could make it harder to formulate the city’s budget
This year’s event, held in the Cunningham Center at Columbus State University, is the last State of the City Henderson will give because he will complete his second four-year term at the end of this year and isn’t allowed to seek re-election due to term limits.
Rather than give a speech, Henderson sat down with Doug Jenkins, vice president for Georgia Power’s west region and vice chairman of the Greater Columbus Chamber of Commerce, to answer questions in a fireside chat-style conversation.
Here are some of the key highlights from the 2026 State of the City:
Importance of the public-private partnership
When asked how his leadership style has evolved over the years, Henderson said he learned from and adopted elements of leadership from past Columbus leaders, including the late councilors A.J. McClung and Charles E. “Red” McDaniel.
As he evolved as a leader over the years, Henderson said, one thing that hasn’t changed has been the emphasis on the public-private partnership.
“We rely so heavily on the private sector,” he said. “Columbus is Columbus because we do that better than any other city in Georgia, possibly in the Southeast.”
Other mayors and community leaders have asked Henderson how Columbus can achieve certain things, he said.
Last week, the Columbus Consolidated Government announced that a public-private partnership will soon complete construction of a renewable natural gas facility at the Pine Grove Municipal Landfill to convert methane into gas that can be used for homes, industry and transportation.
“I really did tell one, as a friend, that if you have to ask, you can’t do it because it’s intrinsic,” Henderson said. “It’s something that just is in the fabric of not just Columbus but Phenix City, Fort Benning and all the surrounding areas. It’s just an incredible honor to be able to work with so many great people.”
Shaping budget priorities, challenges ahead
Shaping the budget with limited resources is a collaborative effort led by the staff, Henderson said.
“It is a partnership,” he said. “The department heads work with the city manager, who then formulates the budget, brings it to the mayor, and then, ultimately, it is the council that will make those decisions.”
Henderson warned challenges to this process are coming, despite the city’s finances being healthy.
“We’re kind of at the mercy of the uncertainty of what they do in Atlanta,” he said. “Occasionally, we end up with some initiative or some issue or bill that they pass that we have to figure out a way to plug the hole left.”
The Georgia Senate passed bills last week that would reduce the personal income tax rate. SB 476 would exempt the first $50,000 of taxable net income for individual filers and the first $100,000 for joint filers, while SB 477 would reduce the flat personal income tax rate from 5.19% to 4.99% in 2026, to 4.49% in 2027 and to 3.99% in 2028, as long as state revenues grow by at least 1% each year.
This month, the state Senate also passed SB 382, preventing local governments and school districts from opting out of a statewide homestead tax exemption, which was passed in 2024 and caps annual property tax increases.
“Some of those things could potentially create challenges for Columbus and make it a very tight budget,” Henderson said in an interview after the State of the City. “But we still have to deliver services. We still have to take care of the people of Columbus, Georgia, and that’s what we’re going to do.”
To make up for revenue losses, HB 581 allows counties to levy a Floating Local Option Sales Tax (FLOST). This is a 1% sales tax that runs for five years if residents approve the referendum.
The sales tax rate for Muscogee County is 9%, according to the Georgia Department of Revenue.
Improving businesses’ experiences
Columbus must ensure the business climate is good for businesses at all scales, Henderson said, from the small businesses to the larger industries.
The city is working to open lanes of commerce through investing in transportation infrastructure, he said. A lot of money has been used in this investment, with funding from the Georgia Department of Transportation, TSPLOST, and SPLOST.
“The idea is to try to create an opportunity for people to move in an easier fashion throughout the city to try to go where we hope to see more restaurants and more businesses,” Henderson said.
Columbus officials are also working on making the process of opening and maintaining a business more automated, he said, so it’s easier for people to get through the process.
“We also know that it can be cumbersome for someone who’s trying to navigate the system for the first time,” he said.
International relationships
Last summer, Henderson was part of a delegation led by Columbus State University to Jinju, South Korea, to sign a sister-city agreement between Columbus and Jinju and an agreement between CSU and Gyeongsang National University for student and faculty exchange.
“The way we survive,” Henderson said, “and the way we continue to thrive is because we’ve got to compete on a global basis.”
The trip established opportunities to share knowledge and information with each other, he said, with some Columbus Chamber members invited back to learn about “K entrepreneurship.”
Jinju is the birthplace of the founders of companies, including LG and Samsung, according to reporting by The Korea Times.
There will be more CSU visits to South Korea, Henderson said, and arrangements are being made for Jinju’s mayor to visit Columbus.
Henderson also mentioned JS Link relocating to Columbus as another positive result from international cooperation. The company is establishing a rare earth permanent magnet manufacturing facility in Columbus, creating 520 new jobs.
“I think with the way we’re positioned with the Korean opportunities is going to pay big dividends,” Henderson said.
Public safety
Columbus wasn’t the only community going through challenges with public safety in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, Henderson said. This was compounded by the social unrest that followed the murder of George Floyd, he said.
“You had a defund the police movement,” Henderson said. “You had officers feeling disrespected. I didn’t feel like their communities had their back, and they were leaving by the droves.”
The culture of the Columbus Police Department got better after Columbus Police Chief Stoney Mathis was hired full-time in 2023, he said.
“Our crime is down,” Henderson said. “It’s been because we’re fully staffed.”
Mathis wants to have a visible presence on the streets, he said, because the visibility puts a damper on crime. The Columbus Council also invested a lot of money on technology that helped address crime, Henderson said.
“I may get this wrong,” he said. “But last year, we had about 27 homicides, which is 20% down from the year before, which was about 30% down from the year before that.”
The solve rate was around 100% for a while, Henderson said.
The Columbus Police Department received the Georgia Chapter of the FBI National Academy Associates’ Phyllis Goodwin Agency of the Year Award.
“If you commit a violent crime in Columbus, you go and pack your bag for jail because we’re going to catch it,” he said.
Along with the police department, Henderson also acknowledged changes and improvements to crime prevention, Fire and EMS and the Muscogee County Prison.
Columbus Fire and EMS has implemented the Columbus Correct Care program, which is an initiative that addresses medical care, mental health needs and critical social services, like housing and food security.
This has resulted in putting fewer miles on ambulances, Henderson said, and dispatching focus teams trained to care for people needing these services.
The Muscogee County Prison warden, Herbert Walker, has had 60-70 people get certificates like GEDs or for welding. He is on track for 110 inmates to receive some type of certification, Henderson said.
“He’s trying to put all these folks in a position where they’re not going to have to go back into prison,” he said.
