Douglas County finance staff explain millage calculation, keep recommended rate unchanged

The Douglas County Board of Commissioners heard a finance presentation Aug. 10 explaining why staff will recommend maintaining the county’s current millage rate and why state law requires advertising what appears as an increase.

CFO Dominique O'Shea said a mill equals $1 in tax for every $1,000 of assessed value and walked commissioners through how assessed value (40% of market) and recent growth produce the advertised rollback rate. "Even though we did not really increase millage, the law requires that you advertise increase in millage on the basis of that growth...and that percentage growth is the equivalent of 3.91%," O'Shea said. Using an example of a $350,000 market-value home, she said assessed value (40%) would be $140,000 and that the average homeowner with the standard homestead exemption would see roughly $61 annually attributable to one mill; without the exemption she said it would be about $64.

O'Shea summarized exemptions available to seniors, veterans and surviving spouses and said the assessor’s office maintains a floating homestead provision for long-tenured homeowners. She also noted the county completed a large revaluation this year and that state rules shape how the rollback rate is calculated. The board was told two additional public hearings on the millage rate are scheduled for Tuesday, Aug. 18, 2026, at 10:00 a.m. and 6:00 p.m.