Houston County commissioners adopt 2024 millage; county rate set at 8.501 mills

The Houston County Board of Commissioners voted unanimously Aug. 20 to set the county's 2024 property tax levy at 20.220 mills for incorporated areas and 21.397 mills for unincorporated areas. The motion authorizing Chairman Perdue to sign the resolutions was made by Commissioner Byrd, seconded by Commissioner Talton, and carried by all commissioners present.

Chairman Mark Perdue explained the county millage component would be 8.501 mills for 2024, down from the 2023 county millage of 9.561 —a decrease of 1.06 mills—. "We are bound by a tax cap that limits our millage rate," Perdue said, and the board is "returning to a rollback rate," meaning the existing property base as a whole will not generate additional property tax revenue over last year. Perdue noted that new construction and development can increase collections even when the rollback is in effect.

The board's presented totals break down as: county millage 8.501 and Board of Education millage 11.719, producing the 20.220-mill incorporated total; the unincorporated total of 21.397 mills includes those same county and school components plus a 1.177-mill fire levy. The public hearing on the levy produced no public comments before the board returned to regular session and voted to adopt the resolutions.

Those present at the special-called session included Chairman Perdue; Commissioners Byrd, Gottwals, Robinson and Talton; County Attorney Tom Hall; Director of Administration Robbie Dunbar; and Director of Operations Brian Jones. Commissioner Talton later moved to adjourn; Commissioner Byrd seconded, and the meeting was adjourned.

The resolutions set the official tax levies for 2024 as specified during the meeting; the board authorized the chairman to sign the documents effecting that levy.