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Columbia County manager explains property assessments, millage law and upcoming homestead-exemption vote
Summary
County manager Scott Johnson told listeners the county is not secretly raising property taxes, explained why assessment notices and 'rollback-rate' advertising can cause confusion, and urged residents to vote on a homestead-exemption measure tied to House Bill 439.
Scott Johnson, Columbia County manager, used the County Compass podcast to walk residents through recent assessment notices, explain how the state’s millage and ‘rollback-rate’ rules can make tax changes appear confusing, and urge voters to take part in a November ballot tied to House Bill 439.
Johnson said assessment notices are arriving and encouraged homeowners to review them and the county’s online resources. “The assessors are completely independent of us,” he said, adding that the county has an educational video series on property taxes available on its YouTube channel.
Johnson described the rollback-rate requirement that can force jurisdictions to advertise an increase even when the millage rate is reduced. Using round numbers, he said, “Let’s just say that the millage rate was 5, 5.0 mils. And we reduced it to 4.5 mils. That’s a reduction in taxes. Okay. But the way the law is written now is if you don’t reduce it to what’s called the rollback rate ... we have to advertise it as an increase in property taxes.” He called the result “ridiculous” while stressing, “We are not increasing your property taxes.”
Johnson said Columbia County plans to set the millage rate in August and noted the county has cut its millage in 10 of the last 11 years. He did not specify the amount of this year’s proposed reduction.
On exemptions, Johnson said voters approved an additional $8,000 local homestead exemption last year (on top of the state’s $2,000 exemption), yielding a $10,000 total local-plus-state exemption. He said House Bill 439 from the last legislative session creates an opportunity on the November ballot for a further $18,000 homestead exemption. Johnson encouraged residents to “educate yourself” and to vote in November, while noting he cannot direct listeners how to vote.
The podcast episode offered no new county ordinance vote or immediate tax action; Johnson framed the remarks as explanation and encouragement to use existing informational resources and to participate in the November election. For questions about assessments or exemptions, he directed listeners to county channels and the property‑tax education videos.
