City rolls back millage rate

Jul. 28—TIFTON — The 2021 millage rate was set at 9.357 Monday in a brief meeting of the Tifton City Council.

Before the vote on the millage rate, Tax Commissioner Chad Alexander stepped up to the podium and opened the floor for questions.

Councilman Jack Folk asked about property value increases, which has netted Tifton an additional $23,000 for the tax digest. Alexander said, based on his knowledge of the tax assessor's role, "Every so often, by law, they have to come in to a reassessment. What they have started this year is to do a revaluation of Tift County."

This year, said Alexander, is the revaluation.

"Over the next three to four years — it could take five years — in that time period, they will reassess every district and place in Tift County."

Alexander said there will be a rollback in millage rate because of "inflationary growth" from the revaluation. He further clarified that revaluation is based on sales.

"If you bought your house at $100K 10 years ago, in that same neighborhood, they're selling basically that same house for $150(K), they take the sales studies of that house and like houses around it to come up with your inflationary growth."

The increase in market value is the inflationary growth, Alexander said.

Citing the recent real estate boom, Mayor Julie Smith — who is a real estate agent — asked if another revaluation would occur once the market settles. Alexander said it would depend upon a state mandate.

For a better grasp on real estate revaluation, Alexander suggested speaking with Hayward Becton, chief appraiser with the Tift County Board of Assessors. Smith said Becton should be invited to a future workshop and City Manager Pete Pyrzenski agreed.

Alexander said some of the value increases were not just because inflationary growth, but also real growth. He gave an example of real growth as being a vacant lot having a house built on it.

"If we roll back the millage rate to offset the reevaluation," Smith said.

Alexander picked up her train of thought, "To zero out what you got the last year."

"What's that number?" Smith asked.

"As tax commissioner, I can't tell you what to roll back," Alexander said. "To go back down basically to a $93 increase, from last year's taxes, you would go down 0.63 mills to come to 9.357."

Alexander said they could not go above what they advertise at 9.420.

Folk made a motion to set the millage rate at 9.357, which was seconded by Vice Mayor Wes Ehlers.

"We aren't taking in any more revenue this year in any property taxes than we did last year," Folk said. "There's absolutely no increase from the city for any reason. That being said, some people will be seeing a slight increase because their value, or they're going to see a decrease for the same reason."

"We, as a council, are pretty much responsible for oversight for how every penny is spent," Ehlers said. "Even though it's a small amount of money, that's what we've done as a council."

He said it shows constituents they are looking at everything.

Pyrzenski said during the last five years, the millage rate has dropped. Last year's millage rate was 9.726, down from 9.731 in 2019.

"It is a very good pattern we have set for being good stewards of taxpayer money," he said.

The vote on the millage rate was unanimous.