The Baldwin City Council is holding off on issuing an estimated rollback millage rate for now as city officials grapple with new property tax requirements and looming deadlines.
The rollback millage rate changes annually based on the number of new properties and new exemptions added to the digest. Rollback estimates are required under House Bill 581, which established the statewide floating homestead exemption and other property tax reforms. Banks County asked for Baldwin’s estimate by April 18.
During the council’s April 8 work session, Baldwin Chief Administrative Officer Emily Woodmaster said the city received approximately 29 applications for exemptions this year. She recommended against issuing an estimate until after the city gets the tax digest.
Woodmaster told council members it would be difficult to estimate the rollback accurately without the tax digest. She expressed concern that if the estimate is too low or too high, it could create confusion on property tax assessment notices and bills.
The council agreed that establishing an estimated rollback rate is not a good idea at this time given “too many unknown variables.”
