Henry County holds second millage hearing as officials defend 15.733 proposed rate

Henry County held the second of three public hearings on Aug. 19 on a proposed county millage rate of 15.733 mills, with Tax Commissioner Michael Harris and Budget Director Bonita Campbell explaining how the rate and exemptions affect homeowners and answering procedural questions ahead of a final adoption vote scheduled for 6:30 p.m. the same evening.

Why it matters: The millage rate helps fund the county’s portion of local property taxes and, together with school and city millage, determines most residents’ tax bills. County staff said the FY26 budget relies on property-tax revenue to support public-safety staffing, road work and judicial expansion and that more than half of total property-tax dollars go to schools.

The county’s adopted FY26 general-fund and special-service-district budget totals $287,797,000, a $28,100,000 (10.8%) increase over the prior year, Budget Director Bonita Campbell said. She told the board staff developed the budget through commissioner one-on-ones, leadership meetings, two budget workshops and two public hearings and that the adopted budget was built without using fund balance.

Tax Commissioner Michael Harris gave a plain-language overview of how…