The Conyers City Council announced it will increase property taxes this year by 2.37 mils, or 20.63 percent over the rollback millage rate of 11.481, due to falling property values. The rollback rate is the rate that would bring in the same amount as the previous year. The city will hold a series of public hearings and a called meeting on July 22 to adopt the millage rate.
The proposed increase will result in a 2.37 mil increase to 13.85 mils in order to fund the city's $13.35 million fiscal year 2014 budget . The city had projected an increase from last year's 9.9 mils to 14.9 mils when premilinary figures showed a potential 15 percent decrease in the tax digest. This is the second time in nine years the millage rate has increased due to a decrease in property values.
A mil is $1 charged per $1000 of taxable value. According to the city, a home with homestead exemption and a fair market value of $100,000 would see a proposed tax increase of approximately $47.38, and the proposed tax increase for non-homestead property with a fair market value of $250,000 is approximately $236.90.
When the total digest of taxable property is prepared, Georgia law requires that a rollback millage rate must be computed that will produce the same total revenue on the current year's new digest that last year's millage rate would have produced had no reassessments occurred.
The budget tentatively adopted by the City Council requires a millage rate higher than the rollback millage rate. Therefore, before the City of Conyers can finalize the tentative budget and set a final millage rate, Georgia law requires that three public hearings be held to allow the public an opportunity to express their opinions on this proposed increase.
All concerned citizens are invited to the public hearings on this tax increase to be held in the City Council Chambers located at 1194 Scott Street at the times indicated below:
Monday, July 15, at noon
Monday, July 15, at 6 p.m.
Monday, July 22, at 12 p.m.
The City Council will hold a called meeting Monday, July 22, at 1 p.m. in the City Council Chambers for the purpose of setting the millage rate.
