Dade County holds public hearing on 2025 millage; commissioners recommend keeping current rate

Dade County Board of Commissioners held a public hearing Aug. 20, 2025, in Trenton on the county’s proposed 2025 millage rates, hearing residents’ concerns about rising living costs and discussing the county’s fiscal position. County staff presented the recommended rates—7.75 mills for the unincorporated area and 9.9502 mills for the city (incorporated) area—and explained how state-required rollbacks and other revenue sources affect the final numbers.

The millage rate determines local property tax bills by applying mills per $1,000 of assessed value; county staff explained that Georgia uses assessed values equal to 40% of market value. County officials described the mechanics behind the recommended rates: a theoretical county-wide rate around 14.5305 mills is reduced by an insurance “rollback” and the local option sales tax (LOST), producing the 7.75-mill projection for unincorporated property. County staff also said the net additional taxes from growth in the digest this year total $368,091, a 7.13% increase over last year’s collections.

Why it matters: Property owners and renters said the changes would affect household budgets. Several residents urged the commission to consider the monthly impact of any change, noting paychecks and grocery costs have risen. "Food prices, everything's gone up except for my paycheck," resident Kenneth Hart said at the hearing. Another resident, Cliff Almond, asked commissioners to remember that many homeowners pay property taxes through monthly mortgage escrow and appealed to the board to keep increases small because they affect monthly bills.

Officials and staff emphasized constraints and trade-offs. County representatives noted state law requires counties to compute and advertise a rollback millage that would keep revenue constant in the face of reassessments; House Bill 92 was cited as a recent state law that delayed assessments statewide and affected the county’s schedule. County staff also described exemptions that reduce taxable digest totals and said rental properties generally are not eligible for common exemptions such as homestead or the “65 and older” freeze, meaning rental parcels tend to contribute a larger share of property-tax revenue.

Fiscal context: Officials discussed the county’s fund balance and budget risk. Meeting presenters said the unassigned fund balance as of June 30, 2024, was $3,520,824 and that the state recommends a reserve of roughly one-third of operating expenses (county staff cited a target around $4.5–$5.1 million as a long-term goal). Commissioners and staff warned that lowering the millage enough to create an immediate shortfall would reduce the county’s ability to respond to emergencies and could require cuts to services. “If you wanna go down half a mill, we’ll go down a half a mill. If you wanna go down a quarter mill, I might be able to buy a quarter of a mill, but I am not going to put the county back into a deficit situation,” one commissioner said when discussing trade-offs between tax cuts and the fund balance.

Related local priorities raised in public comment included an elections office facility and storage for voting equipment, animal-control facility needs, and use of county-owned properties (including a parcel on Sales Lane). Several speakers asked whether existing county assets (such as North Dade School) could be repurposed instead of building new facilities. Commissioners said those topics would be discussed through separate, forthcoming meetings; the county scheduled an additional public meeting about the elections proposal for Sept. 2, 2025, at 5:00 p.m.

Next steps: County officials reminded the public that this Aug. 20 hearing was the second advertised public hearing and that additional hearings were scheduled (a morning session Aug. 20 and another hearing Aug. 27 were noted). Staff encouraged residents with personal assessment questions to contact the tax assessor’s office and the tax commissioner; the county provided a public contact (info@DadeCounty-GA.gov and (706) 657-4625) in the presentation.