BLAIRSVILLE, Ga – In an 8 a.m. called meeting, Union County Board of Education unanimously voted to leave the millage rate at 11.74 mills for the 2021 fiscal year. By leaving the millage rate alone, the board effectively lowered property taxes by not accepting the advised rollback rate of 11.76 mills.

In other words, the school’s portion of property taxes will not be going up. They will be staying the same, and revenue will decrease slightly. The total decrease is .02 mills or .17 percent. One mill represents a tax liability of one dollar per $1,000 of assessed value.

“We’ve chosen given the situation many of our residents are in to leave it at 11.74, which does show as a slight tax decrease from the Board of Education,” explained Superintendent John Hill. “We appreciate the board’s supporting us on that and rolling back taxes a little bit for our taxpayers.”

In Georgia, the state calculates a rollback rate to ensure that the county or school receives the same amount of revenue as the previous year’s digest if no reassessments occurred.

If a county or school board decides to raise the millage rate higher than its rollback/ increase property taxes, officials must hold three public hearings, issue a press release, and place a notice in the county’s legal organ. Local government is currently undergoing that process.

Union County Schools make up two-thirds of overall property taxes. The county represents one-third. Now that the school has officially announced and approved its millage rate, the commissioner must establish the county’s overall millage rate.

On August 27 at 6:30 p.m., Sole Commissioner Lamar Paris will officially set the millage rate. Residents can expect a property tax increase of 6.8 percent because of the county’s decision to raise its millage rate by 1.226 mills or 19.98 percent.

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