Habersham County Commissioners voted to roll back the property tax millage rate slightly at their meeting Monday night.
Last year the multiplier by which your tax bill is determined was 10.785. This year the tax rate will be 10.639.
According to County Manager Phil Sutton, “Due to the increase in accessed existing real property values, it is necessary to accept a rollback for 2015 in order to not increase taxes.”
Habersham County’s overall digest of existing property increased by $14.9 million based on reassessments for 2015. Georgia law requires local governments to reduce their millage to match the increase in property values or keep the same millage and advertise it as a tax increase.
While the rate is reduced, it doesn’t necessarily mean your property taxes will stay exactly the same. Your individual tax bill depends on a number of factors including how much your property value rose or fell in the most recent assessment and the types of exemptions for which you qualify so you could still end up paying more or less in taxes under the new millage rate.
The change does mean any increase in overall property values won’t translate into an automatic increase in revenue to the county. Combined with changes in the way the state collects taxes on motor vehicles, the new millage rate will mean the county collects about $200,000 less in property tax revenue for the coming fiscal year.
Leaders also rolled back the millage rate for taxes levied on behalf of Habersham County Medical Center. The 2015 rate is .590 a rollback of .008 mils.
In addition to the 10.639 from the county, the .590 from the hospital bond and the estimated 14.49 mils from Habersham County Schools – tax bills for folks with property inside the city limits of Cornelia, Clarkesville, Demorest, Baldwin, Mt. Airy, Alto and Tallulah Falls also reflect those cities’ additional millage rates.
