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Latest News and Commentary -- the millage rate explained!
millage:
noun; tax rate on property, expressed in mills per dollar
of value of the property. |
 The
millage rate (also known as the tax rate) is a figure applied to the value of
your property to calculate your property tax liability. One "mill" is one dollar
of tax on every thousand dollars of taxable value. Your tax dollars are used to
fund the cost of your government each year.
There is only
one way to correctly calculate the millage-- it
is simply one number divided by another. When your city, county or school board
correctly "does the math," the cost of government* is equally spread to all
property owners based on the value of their property. You pay no more and
no less than is required to fully fund the budget.
Over 90% of Georgia's City Councils, County Commissions and School Boards
do it wrong.
There is currently no law that requires your City Council members, your County
Commissioners or your School Board members to simply "do the math."
Consequently, most taxing authorities set the millage rate arbitrarily or "politically"--
the rate that you pay has absolutely no mathematical relationship to the
budget.
Many cities, counties and school
boards set an arbitrarily high millage rate, riding the wave of growing tax digests
to bank a yearly surplus-- in other words, you pay too much.
Others
have maintained the same millage rate for years or
roll it back slightly each year, fearing public
reaction to a tax increase and retribution at the ballot box. Meanwhile, they suffer yearly budget deficits;
some cities and counties are on the fast track to bankruptcy.
Although the state of Georgia--
from whom your elected officials derive their taxing authority-- teaches the
correct way to calculate the millage rate to county Tax Commissioners,
appraisers, assessors and Board of Equalization members, that same training is
not provided to the people who actually set the rate-- your
City Council members, County Commissioners and School Board members.
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Our Purpose
*The portion of the annual budget to be funded
by property tax dollars.
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