Public Hearings Set for Millage Rate

The Talbot County Board of Commissioners have scheduled three public hearings for the board’s proposed millage rate.
Both public hearings will be held at the Commissioner’s Office located at 35 West Madison Street in Talbotton. The first public hearing is scheduled for Thursday, Aug. 27 at 10 a.m., a second hearing that same date at 6 p.m. and the third public hearing is scheduled for Tuesday, Sept. 8 at 9 a.m.
According to a press release issued by the Commissioner’s Office, the board intends to increase the 2026 property taxes it will levy this year by 3.18 percent over the rollback millage rate.
“Each year, the board of tax assessors is required to review the assessed value for property tax purposes of taxable property in the county. When the trend of prices on properties that have recently sold in the county indicate there has been an increase in the fair market value of any specific property, the board of tax assessors is required by law to re-determine the value of such property and adjust the assessment. This is called a reassessment.
“When the total digest of taxable property is prepared, Georgia law requires a rollback millage rate be computed that will produce the same total revenue on the current year’s digest that last year’s millage rate would have produced had no reassessment occurred.
The budget tentatively adopted by the Talbot County Board of Commissioners requires a millage rate higher than the rollback millage rate; therefore, before the Talbot County Board of Commissions may finalize the tentative budget and set a final millage rate, Georgia law requires three public hearings to be held to allow the public an opportunity to express their opinions on the increase.
This tentative increase will result in a millage rate of 16.248 mills, an increase of 0.50 mills. Without this tentative increase, the millage rate will be no more than 15.748 mills. The proposed tax increase for a home with a fair market value of $100,000 is approximately $20 and the proposed tax increase for non-homestead property with a fair market value of $300,000 is approximately $60.