ATLANTA --- Tucked on the eastern side of the state, Columbia County is just like several other suburban counties in Georgia, serving as home for many living in the Augusta area.

When it comes to the state budget, though, Columbia County has one key advantage over its suburban counterparts and practically every other county in the state: House Appropriations Chairman Ben Harbin, R-Evans, who plays a key role in crafting the annual spending plan.

When lawmakers finished the budget for the coming fiscal year, which begins July 1, and divvied up a pot of money set aside for small community projects, Columbia County and its school board came away with seven grants worth $95,000, or nearly 88.9 cents a person. By comparison, Fulton County, home of Atlanta, pulled in $314,461 -- or less than 32.8 cents a person. The statewide total averages 64.1 cents a person.

And so it has been, observers say, for a long time. And not just for local assistance grants, but across the budget. Charles Bullock, a political science professor at the University of Georgia, said money for special projects in the budget -- from the small grants that benefit Columbia County to bonds for colleges and other monetary goodies -- often flows first in the direction of the majority party.

"There's reason to believe it is then skewed toward individuals who chair important committees or are chamber leaders," Dr. Bullock said.

Clarke County, dominated by Athens, is similar in size to Columbia County, but took home no local assistance grants under the budget approved by lawmakers.

Not that the home of the University of Georgia was left out. A total of $6 million in bonds was set aside to design a special collections library for the university and to equip its new pharmacy building.

There again, though, the Augusta area did well. More than $75 million in bonds flowed to Medical College of Georgia for a new dental school, the design of a building with shared medical space and two research projects.

Chatham County, which includes Savannah and is home to legislative leaders such as Senate President Pro Tem Eric Johnson and two House chairmen, was hardly forgotten. It took in more than $6 million in bonds to equip a building at Savannah State University, design and build another at the Skidaway Institute of Oceanography and fund a harbor dike disposal project at the city's port. (When it came to local assistance grants, though, the county took in only about 28.2 cents a person.)

Mr. Harbin doesn't deny that leaders might have an edge when it comes to securing funds for their districts, but he said the perception is out of balance with reality.

"I think what drives us more than anything is public policy and the need," he said.

For example, the projects for MCG were driven by a plan to expand the medical school in Augusta while opening campuses elsewhere in the state.

"I've been fighting for that dental school since I become chairman because we've had the need for probably six or seven years now," Mr. Harbin said.