Columbia County commissioners roll back M&O millage to 4.36; county manager explains who pays and how

The Columbia County Board of Commissioners voted unanimously last Tuesday to roll back the maintenance-and-operations (M&O) millage rate to 4.36.

County Manager said the reduction is intended to offset rising property values so that the county’s aggregate revenue remains roughly even while lowering the tax rate where possible. "We've set that millage rate at 4.36," the County Manager said. The manager described how assessed value, the 40 percent taxable ratio and existing homestead exemptions combine to determine individual bills.

Explanation of how tax bills are calculated matters to homeowners because Georgia counties use an independent board of assessors to set fair-market assessed values. The County Manager said property taxes are calculated by taking the assessor’s value, multiplying it by 0.40 to get the taxable value, subtracting any homestead exemption and then multiplying that result by the millage rate. Using the manager’s example, a $300,000 home yields a taxable value of $120,000 (40 percent), minus the historic $2,000 homestead exemption to $118,000, and that amount multiplied by 0.00436 produces the M&O tax due.

The manager said the rollback rate is designed to keep the county’s overall revenue similar to the prior year as property values rise, but cautioned that homeowners whose assessed values increased more than the rollback captures may see a small tax increase. "Some people saw a growth in their value that was even higher than what the rollback rate would capture," the County Manager said, adding that in neighborhoods with faster value growth — the manager cited Appling as an example — individual bills can rise even when the millage rate falls.

The manager also said homeowners must apply for the homestead exemption once to receive it on their primary residence. Voters in November will decide whether to add an additional $8,000 homestead exemption in Columbia County, which the manager described as adding to the existing roughly $2,000 exemption for a potential total exemption of $10,000.

The county manager emphasized county services funded by the General Fund, including public safety and public works, and framed the rollback as balancing service levels with tax relief. The formal action taken by the Board of Commissioners was the unanimous rollback to a 4.36 M&O millage; the transcript did not provide a mover, seconder or individual vote counts.

Residents with questions about their assessed value or homestead exemption were directed to the county assessor’s office for details on appeals and to the county for information about the November ballot measure.