Fort Valley City Council votes to lower the millage rate, approves new auditing firm

FORT VALLEY, Ga. — The Fort Valley City Council has agreed to lower its millage rate for fiscal year 2026 during a called meeting on Wednesday, Sept. 2. 

The city’s Interim Finance Director, Danny LeMonte, proposed a millage rate of 11.806 mills, down from 2025’s 15 mills.

LeMonte explained to the council that the with the additional $636,265 from the FLOST proceeds, the city would be in a good position to rollback the millage rate while maintaining a combined revenue of $3,372,981, which is $111,124 more than the revenue from 2025. 

“If you look at the page that calculates it — that we turn into the state and county — it takes in effect the $600,000 we’ve already received from the FLOST fund. I ran the numbers and we’re able to sustain that 3.3 million, cause we actually had 3.2 last year,” LeMonte said. “That’s a good position to be in and is a testament of the direction that the finance department and city is heading. I recommend that we go with 11 mills to give taxpayers a relief and to maintain our city services.”

Following that, the mayor and council have awarded an Audit Services Contract to Sourced Audit and Tax, LLC who operate out of Peachtree Corners. 

Gabrielle Mills, the Founder and President of Sourced Audit and Tax, along with her Managing Partner, Darron Kendrick, assured the council that the audits will be done in a timely fashion. 

They are projected to have the Financial Years 2024, 2025, and 2026 completed by the end of April 2027. The exact, projected dates are Dec. 11, 2026 for the 2024 audit; Feb. 26, 2027 for the 2025 audit; and April 30, 2027. However, Mills emphasized that if they can get the audits done before those deadlines, they will. 

The projected cost of the first year contract with Sourced Audit and Tax, LLC was around $47,000, and the following year was a projected $36,000. After the council questioned if delays would impact the cost, Mills confirmed that delayed or prolonged timelines will not impact the cost.