County’s Proposed Millage Rate Lower Than 2024’s
By LYDIA BERGLAR
News Editor
The Dade County Board of Commissioners held its first public hearing for the FY25 millage rate on August 15 at 11 a.m. and the second at 6 p.m. that evening. The third public hearing will be this Thursday, August 22, at 4 p.m. with the commission voting on the millage rate at 4:30 p.m.
No citizens (who are not county employees, elected officials, or media personnel) attended the first meeting, and neither Phillip Hartline (District Two commissioner) nor Lamar Lowery (District One commissioner) were present. At the second hearing, Hartline and Lowery were present but Robert Goff (District Three commissioner) was not present, and two citizens asked questions.
Last year’s millage rate was 8.000 in the unincorporated area and 10.219 in the incorporated area (the City of Trenton). The county is proposing dropping it to 7.750 (unincorporated) and 9.963 (incorporated) this year. These are still higher than the rollback rates of 6.593 (unincorporated) and 9.584 (incorporated).
As he’s explained in previous years, Don Townsend (CFO and county clerk) again noted that the public hearings are required because even though the millage rates are lower than last year, they will result in more revenue than the previous year. Through a state formula, rollback rates calculate what millage rate is needed to provide the same income as the previous year’s budget, and when implementing a millage rate higher than the rollback rate, counties must follow the public hearing procedures and publish a notice with the wording “Proposed Property Tax Increase.”
Partly due to rising property values, the county will be collecting more revenue even with the lower millage rate. Townsend also listed several other revenue increases: Title Ad Valorem Tax (TAVT) is being collected on all new vehicles, mobile homes and timber increased in the county, and Vanguard is beginning to come onto the tax rolls. The total county digest value increased from $589,380,000 to $633,847,000.
However, Townsend also reported that exemptions went up from approximately $202 million to $231 million.
After noting the good news that the county is proposing a lower millage rate than last year, Townsend also explained, “If you had additions to your home or your home was assessed higher in value, yes, it’s still possible you will see an increase, and that’s called inflationary growth.”
He added that Dade County has the tenth lowest property taxes in the state of Georgia (per smartasset.com/taxes/georgia-property-tax-calculator?year#georgia).
Goff asked Angie Galloway (tax commissioner) if the increases in exemptions are due to anything specific or simply the many exemptions available in Georgia. Galloway said it’s a combination of all of the exemptions.
The Sentinel then listed data comparing county budget growth to inflation rates and asked the commission what accounts for the percentage of growth not caused by inflation.
The FY21 budget was $11,478,000, and the FY25 budget is $15,322,000, a 33.5 percent growth. Per US Inflation Calculator’s “Current US Inflation Rates: 2000-2024,” inflation in this time frame totaled 19.9 percent, leaving 13.6 percent of the county’s budget growth not accounted for by inflation.
Comparing last year to this year, the FY24 budget was $14,500,000 meaning the FY25 budget grew by only 5.7 percent. Per the same US Inflation Calculator’s data set, the 2024 inflation rate is 3 percent, meaning 2.7 percent of the county’s budget growth was not caused by inflation.
The Sentinel did not list this third comparison in the public hearing, but it is included here for further context: Compared to the FY20 budget of $10,715,000, the FY25 budget grew by 43 percent. Per the same US Inflation Calculator’s data set, inflation in this time frame totaled 21.3 percent. (Bankrate.com published an article this July with a slightly lower inflation percentage, reporting that consumer costs are 20.8 percent higher than they were in February 2020.) Using the US Inflation Calculator’s data, 21.7 percent of the county’s budget growth was not caused by inflation.
In response to the Sentinel, Ted Rumley (county executive) said, “It’s just the operation of the county. You’ve got fuel, you’ve got cost of prisoners as far as maintaining our jail. It’s just the whole cost of actually operating the county.” He also cited replacing the HVAC units and making repairs to the jail.
Melissa Bradford (District Four commissioner) agreed, citing medical needs of inmates in the Dade County Jail and natural disasters like tornadoes.
Townsend then listed all non-inflationary additions to the budget. Agreeing with the Sentinel that cost-of-living increases are tied to inflation, he added, “Some of it is just trying to keep up and make [salaries] more competitive.”
One additional expense is $68,000 budgeted for contracted services for the Board of Property Assessor’s.
Some of the $40,000 increase to feed jail inmates is due to inflation, but some is budgeted in anticipation for housing Chattooga inmates. Townsend explained that although Chattooga pays Dade to house inmates, the numbers in both revenue and expense go up.
Agreeing with Rumley, Townsend cited the $25,000 budgeted for HVAC work that had previously been coming from ARPA (American Rescue Plan Act) funds but will now come from the general fund.
Also, inflation has dramatically raised the price of things like sheriff’s department vehicles which in turn has driven property insurance costs up, accounting for $17,000 of the budget increase.
Lastly, Don noted four new full-time employees and one part-time (two full-time for Dade County Sheriff’s Office, one full-time for Emergency Services, one full-time and one part-time for Building and Grounds) which is an additional $298,000 in the budget.
These specific items account for $448,000 of the total $822,000 increase from FY24 to FY25.
At the second hearing, one woman stated that the county budget is supposed to cover essential public services for the good of the entire population. She then said some Dade County students do not have access to the public school buses. She did not list any other examples of insufficient public services.
Because this is a matter for Dade County Schools/the Board of Education, the Sentinel followed up with Josh Ingle (superintendent) who said, “We provide transportation to every student in the county.” Of course, buses do not stop in front of every residence; students must meet at designated locations.
The woman said she lives in the Cole City area, which Ingle confirmed is covered by the bus routes. According to the online route list, buses 22-1, 22-3, and 21-2 serve this area.
She concluded sarcastically, “Mr. Rumley, I want you to know that meeting you and our interaction that we had was the best thing that ever happened to me. Thank you so so so very much for putting me and my family in jail for standing up for our rights. I appreciate you tremendously.”
She did not expand further on this statement, but it is worth noting that Rumley is not a law enforcement officer and therefore cannot put anyone in jail. If he had made a citizen’s arrest, he still could not have placed her or her family in jail. Per the Official Code of Georgia Annotated (OCGA) 17-4-60, “When a felony has been committed, a private person acting upon a reasonable and probable ground of suspicion may apprehend a suspect without a warrant, but it is only for the purpose of taking the offender before a magistrate. The suspect may be taken and detained until the suspect can be committed to the custody of the law.”
A second woman said she was confused about the advertised “property tax increase” given that the millage rate is lower than last year’s, so Rumley and Townsend explained again the difference between the rollback rate and proposed millage rate.
Similarly to his statements in previous years, Hartline then explained that he would like the millage rate to be 7.500. Lowery addressed Hartline, “I think you need to tell everybody where that lost revenue, where’s it going to come from?”
Hartline answered, “The problem is, we set our budget before we get these numbers. We should set our budget after these numbers. It’s not my job to tell them where to make their cuts at; it’s my job to take care of the citizens and our taxes…However much you make in your household is what you’re going to spend. The more you make, the more you spend, period. The more we take, the more’s going to be spent.”
