Houston County government is fully rolling back their millage rate. What does this mean for citizens?

HOUSTON COUNTY — The Houston County Board of Education was not the only county entity to issue a full rollback of their respective millage rates. At Tuesday’s Board of Commissioners meeting,  Houston County approved a millage rate of 8.419 mills, a decrease from 8.45 mills last year. 

Chairman Dan Perdue said in an interview that a rollback millage rate is always the goal.

“We’re excited to deliver the savings to the citizens of Houston County,” he said. 

Overall, Perdue said the citizens will see a reduced millage rate on their property tax bill, but it may not be on every property in the county. 

Similar to the Board of Education, Perdue expects an increase in property tax revenue collected by new homes and new development in the county. He said the increase will be somewhere between three and four percent. 

“Ideally, individual properties will be paying the same or less taxes to the government of Houston County on this year’s tax bill,” he said. 

In total, the millage rate for incorporated areas of the county stands at 20.096 mills. The overall millage rate factors in the county millage, plus the Board of Education millage rate of 11.677. For the unincorporated areas, the total millage rate is 21.773. This increase is due to the fire millage rate at 1.677 mills being added. That rate is only factored into the unincorporated areas. 

Perdue further explained that floating homestead exemptions are moderating the growth of the tax digest, which is the total value of taxable property in the county. 

“The [tax] digest growth in general is slowing in large part because of the Floating Homestead Exemption that we have in Houston County,” Perdue said. 

According to the Georgia Department of Revenue, an owner can have a homestead exemption on their home or land if the property was owned by them on Jan. 1, of the calendar year. 

To be granted a homestead exemption, owners must live in the home and be considered a legal resident. The Department of Revenue will not deny those who are away from home due to health reasons. The family member or friend of a homeowner can notify the tax receiver or their Tax Commissioner and then will be granted a homestead exemption.

A homestead exemption application can be found on the Georgia Department of Revenue website.