11:30 A.M. UPDATE/CLARIFICATION:
Hall County officials are clarifying how proposed millage rates for the upcoming tax year will impact residents after a legally required public notice identified a 14.12% property tax increase.
State law requires local governments to advertise a property tax increase when the proposed General Fund millage rate exceeds the calculated rollback rate, even when changes to other tax districts may offset that increase for taxpayers.
“The required notice focuses on the General Fund millage rate, but we want residents to understand the full picture,” Board of Commissioners Chairman David Gibbs said. “Hall County is proposing changes across multiple tax districts, and the impact will vary depending on where a resident lives, but the majority of our residents will see an overall decrease.”
The 14.12% figure is based on the proposed General Fund millage rate of 3.565 mills, which is 0.441 mills above the calculated rollback rate. However, that figure does not account for reductions in other County tax districts that affect a resident’s total County millage rate.
The proposed General Fund rate represents an increase from the current 3.227 mills and will help fund additional court operations associated with Hall County’s sixth Superior Court Judge recently approved by the state, including required staffing and related expenses.
At the same time, Hall County is proposing reductions in other millage rates. For residents in unincorporated Hall County, those changes not only fully offset the General Fund increase but result in an overall reduction of 0.113 mills. Most incorporated residents will see an overall reduction of 0.078 mills. City of Gainesville residents, who pay only the General Fund and Emergency Services tax district rates, will see an overall increase of 0.302 mills.
“Hall County has worked over the years to maintain a conservative budget while using available funding sources to limit the impact on property taxpayers,” Financial Services Director Taylor Samples said. “Strong economic growth and major commercial development have helped us maintain a full rollback of the General Fund millage rate for nearly a decade.”
The Hall County Board of Commissioners will consider the proposed millage rates following three public hearings to be held during regularly scheduled Board meetings on Aug. 13, 24 and 27.
EARLIER STORY. POSTED 9:30 A.M.
Hall County Commissioners (HCC) are planning to increase property taxes by 14.12% over the rollback millage rate. But property owners and others will have three chances at public hearings to comment between now and the end of the month.
The hearings will be held Aug. 13 at 6:00, Aug. 24 at 3:00, and Aug. 27 at 6:00 at the county government center.
BACKGROUND
Each year, the board of tax assessors is required to review the assessed value for property tax purposes of taxable property in the county. When the trend of prices on properties that have recently sold in the county indicate there has been an increase in the fair market value of any specific property, the board of tax assessors is required by law to re-determine the value of such property and adjust the assessment. This is called a reassessment.
When the total digest of taxable property is prepared, Georgia law requires a rollback millage rate be computed that will produce the same total revenue on the current year’s digest that last year’s millage rate would have produced had no reassessment occurred.
The budget tentatively adopted by the Hall County Board of Commissioners requires a millage rate higher than the rollback millage rate; therefore, before the Hall County Board of Commissioners may finalize the tentative budget and set a final millage rate, Georgia law requires three public hearings to be held to allow the public an opportunity to express their opinions on the increase.