The Board of Commissioners unanimously approved a new millage rate, part of which was previously approved by the Board of Education, in a called meeting on Monday that lasted less than 2 minutes.
In addition to the Board of Education decreasing its rate, the Board of Commissioners lowered its millage rate by 0.85 mills. The total millage rate will decrease from 25.62 to 23.83 mills.
While the rate was lowered from last year, taxes will increase due to an increase in home prices. The rate was approved by the four commissioners in attendance and District 5 commissioner Tracy Norman on Zoom.
Chairman Jay Paul said there was no room for adjusting the millage rate once it was created by the Board of Education. Paul said there is precedent that the commissioners uphold the proposed rate.
The new rates will mean a 9.99% increase in property taxes. Paul said it wasn’t the BOC’s desire to see taxes increase, but rising costs have left no options.
“I mean, none of us are happy about paying taxes, but it's nothing new either,” he said. “I mean they talked about it in ‘Gone with the Wind,’ and they talked about it in the Bible.”
Tax Assessor Kem Caldwell’s office has noticed the increase in valuations for several years, which have led to the county being out of compliance with the state, meaning it has undervalued properties.
Caldwell said despite raising preliminary valuations each year, actual prices have consistently surpassed the projections. Paul echoed Caldwell and said the county has struggled to keep up with rising prices.
“It seems like sometimes we're chasing sales because you think you got a value put on a property,” Paul said. “Next thing you know somebody adjacent to it or even that property has went up.”
Paul said the government is experiencing the same issues as residents, with inflation creating new challenges.
“You have to pay for diesel fuel, and we have people that have wage expectations, and our electricity,” Paul said. “You name it, a government is no different than a household.”
The difference in taxes for households will vary depending on whatever valuation they have been assessed. For a home valued at $150,000, for example, a homeowner can expect to pay $1,430.
While unlikely this year given projections, it’s possible that some residents will not pay more if their home value did not substantially increase.
Paul said the board will try to roll back its millage rates in the future, but said that it will depend on many factors.
“I mean, generally on average, it costs about $750,000 a month to operate county-wide,” Paul said. “So hopefully we can roll back taxes again next year, but no promises there.”