Monroe County Commissioners will decide on Tuesday, Sept. 9 whether they will raise the county’s millage rate by up to 1.173 mills in 2025.
During a 20-minute-long presentation on Tuesday, Aug. 19, County Manager Jim Hedges recommended two options for the 2025 millage rate. He said one option is for Commissioners to roll back the county’s 2025 millage, which would mean a 2025 millage rate of 10.776 mills, down .027 mills from the 2024 millage rate of 10.803 mills. County Manager Hedges said the second option is to roll back the county’s 2025 millage but add back 1.2 mills as was intended after what was intended to be a one-time-only 1.2-mill reduction a year ago due to collection overages in the county’s six-year Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax (SPLOST) proceeds. If Commissioners opt for the second option, the 2025 millage rate would be 11.976 mills. The final millage, which is expected to be voted upon following a third and final public hearing at 6 p.m. on Tuesday, Sept. 9, cannot be any higher than the advertised tentative millage of 11.976 mills.
The first public hearing on the proposed 2025 millage will be held at 9 a.m. on Thursday, Aug. 28 in the normal Board of Commissioners’ meeting room on the 3rd floor of the county administration building at 38 West Main St. The second public hearing will be held later the same day at 6 p.m. on Thursday, Aug. 28 at the same location.
If Commissioners opt for the first proposed option, which is to roll back the 2025 millage rate, it would be the eighth consecutive year that Monroe County Commissioners have either maintained the same millage rate or lowered the millage rate.
Under the tentative millage of 11.976 mills, a Monroe County homeowner with a home valued at $300,000 and a Homestead Exemption would pay $1,293 in county property taxes for 2025, an increase of $127 from the $1,166 the same homeowner paid in 2024. However, if Commissioners roll back the millage rate to 10.763 mills in 2025, a Monroe County homeowner with a home valued at $300,000 and a Homestead Exemption would pay $1,163 in county property taxes in 2025, a decrease of $3 from the $1,166 the same homeowner paid in 2024.
County Manager Hedges said if Commissioners opt to set the millage rate at the roll back rate, it would generate an additional $593,065 in revenue for 2025 as compared with 2024 due to new growth. However, if Commissioners opt to set the millage rate at the roll back rate plus 1.2 mills, it would generate an additional $2.69 million in revenue for 2025 as compared with 2024.
County Manager Hedges said the county’s millage rate has increased by 19 percent over the past eight years while inflation has increased by 27 percent over the same time period. In all, County Manager Hedges said the county has lost a total of about $11.8 million in potential revenue due to property tax reductions via the millage rate as well as through lost property taxes from Plant Scherer and lost revenue from the sale of water as a result of implementing seasonal water rates.
To offset much of that lost revenue, County Manager Hedges said Monroe County has used a total of $18.6 million in unrestricted reserve funds to balance its budget over the past three years. He said that trend is expected to continue in 2026 as Monroe County has just $7.7 million in unrestricted reserve funds and all or most remaining unrestricted reserve funds may be necessary to balance next year’s budget.
Nevertheless, County Manager Hedges said the financial future of Monroe County is bright thanks to upcoming property tax and/or sales tax revenue streams from already approved major commercial projects like the Buc-ee’s convenience center/gas station, the Oglethorpe Power natural gas-fired power plant, the Rumble Technology Campus data center, and the Stellantis warehouse facility. County Manager Hedges said Commissioners’ short-term objective is to get from 2026 to a point in the not-too-distant future, possibly as soon as 2027, when these projects begin contributing to the county’s tax base. He projected that the Buc-ee’s, Oglethorpe Power, and Stellantis projects combined could contribute over $14 million in total annual property and sales tax revenues for Monroe County by 2035.
To view County Manager Hedges’ full presentation on the 2025 Millage Rate options, click on the following link: 2025 Millage
