(Douglasville, Ga.) During a special called meeting on Tuesday, August 27, the Douglas County Board of Commissioners voted to roll back the millage rate by.025 mills, resulting in a tax savings for property owners.
Following a unanimous vote, Commissioners formally adopted a millage rate of 12. 063 mills, a decrease from the current millage rate of 12.313 mills. The adoption followed three public hearings during which Commissioners received input from citizens regarding the impact of the millage rate on their property taxes.
“It’s weighing heavy on my heart. I don’t think in good conscience I could continue to recommend that we keep the millage rate the same,” said District 2 Commissioner Whitney Kenner Jones prior to proposing a motion to amend the resolution to adopt the 2024 millage rate. “With that being said, I do think [taxpayers] need to see some tax relief, no matter how small that may be,” said Kenner Jones.
When the total digest of taxable properties is prepared, Georgia law requires that a rollback millage rate be computed to produce the same total revenue on the current year’s digest that the previous year’s millage rate would have produced had no reassessments occurred. That recommended rollback millage rate was 12.081 mills. The millage rate adopted by the BOC is .018 mills below the recommended rate.
For a home with a fair market value of $350,000, the decrease in the property owner’s tax bill with a homestead exemption is approximately $34. Commissioners had considered a proposal to maintain the current millage rate which would have resulted in a slight increase in taxes. On that same $350,000 property, taxpayers would have paid approximately $31 more on their annual tax bill with the homestead exemption.
“We have to be good stewards of taxpayer money,” said Chairman Phil Miller. “It is a delicate balancing act. While it may mean some extra tightening of the County’s belt, I am willing to make those concessions in favor of the hard-working men and women of this community. Every little bit helps,” said Miller.
This is the second consecutive year the BOC has voted to roll back the millage rate. Last year, Commissioners adopted the current 12.313 millage rate, down from 12.563 the previous year.
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