Both the Fannin County Board of Commissioners and the Fannin County Board of Education voted to roll back their respective millage rates last week.
The school system will roll back their millage rate from 10.593 to 10.391, and the county’s millage rate will go from 3.938 to 3.862.
“It seems that with the climate we’re all facing out here right now, with the coronavirus, it just seem like it’s affecting each and every person no matter who you are or what you do, it’s affected you one way or another,” Post One Commissioner Earl Johnson said. “During this current time, I don’t see any way of even thinking about a tax increase.”
Commission Chairman Stan Helton added, “The county property millage rate accounts for only about 35% of the total county tax revenues, and what’s critical about that, of course, is that it affects every resident in the county that owns property, or rents or just lives here. You can’t get away from it. Keeping these rates low, because quite honestly our SPLOST tax, our Local Options Sales Tax and our Hotel/Motel collections that make up the biggest chunk of county revenue are doing very well.
“The millage rate really gets to the heart of the citizens here. Many of them are elderly. We have a big retirement group in the county, and low income folks who live here on fixed income. I feel that necessity, just like you do, on keeping the millage rate on these folks as low as we can.”
Helton explained that public safety projects and needs, in recent years, have been funded using SPLOST, LOST and Hotel/Motel Excise Tax funds.
“As the county has grown and put more strain on public safety, we’ve put those tax collections and support from the right group, and that’s primarily the visitors and tourists, which we’re blessed in this county to have,” Helton said. “We’ve done that and tried to ease that burden off of the local folks that are here.”
Earlier this year, and prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, Johnson had hoped to leave the millage rate the same as last year rather than roll it back.
“I was hoping that we might leave the millage rate the same and help to try and grow some of our services,” he said. “It’s just not played out, and as I’ve said, during this I just think it would be the most irresponsible thing for me to do right now, on top of whatever other problems they’re facing, to be looking for a tax increase as well. I don’t think it would be the right thing to do right now. Maybe in the coming years, future people can look at it.”
The Board of Commissioners voted to adopt both millage rates during a called meeting Friday, August 28, after the Board of Education voted on the system’s rate the day prior.