Press Release:

Each year, Georgia law requires the County to advertise a “Notice of Tax Increase” whenever the proposed property tax rate is higher than the state’s calculated rollback rate. The rollback rate is a mathematical formula that assumes the County will collect no additional revenue from the growth in the tax digest.

Because Butts County has experienced significant new residential, commercial, and industrial growth, the tax digest has increased. As a result, the rollback rate for this year is 7.906 mills, compared to last year’s adopted rate of 10.459 mills. The Board of Commissioners has tentatively adopted a rate of 8.534 mills. Although this rate is 0.628 mills above the rollback rate, it is still 1.925 mills lower than last year’s tax rate.

The County has chosen to use a portion of the revenue generated by new growth to help fund the essential constitutional services that counties are required to provide, such as public safety, courts, elections, roads, and other vital services. Because the proposed rate is above the calculated rollback rate, state law requires the County to advertise it as a “tax increase.”
However, that required legal notice does not necessarily mean individual homeowners will pay more in property taxes.

For homeowners whose property’s taxable value has not increased this year, the lower millage rate means they will actually pay less in County property taxes than they did last year. For example, a home that was valued at $250,000 last year and remains valued at $250,000 this year is expected to see a reduction in County property taxes of approximately $189 to $193, depending on the exemptions that apply to the property.

We want taxpayers to understand this distinction because the wording required by state law can be confusing. While the County is legally required to publish a “Notice of Tax Increase,” the proposed millage rate is actually lower than last year’s rate, and many homeowners with unchanged property values will see a decrease—not an increase—in the amount of County property taxes they pay.