Monroe County Commissioners unanimously approved on Tuesday, Sept. 9 to set the county’s millage rate at 11.976 mills for 2025, a 10.86 percent increase from 2024.
Under the final millage of 11.976 mills, a Monroe County homeowner with a home valued at $300,000 and a Homestead Exemption will pay $1,293 in county property taxes for 2025, an increase of $127 from the $1,166 the same homeowner paid in 2024.
At a millage rate of 11.976 mills, the county’s property tax revenue would increase by about $2.69 million in 2025 as compared with 2024.
Tuesday’s millage rate increase was the Board’s first approved millage hike since 2017. Commissioners had either maintained the same millage rate or lowered the millage rate for the past seven years.
The Board’s vote came following the third of three public hearings related to the county’s proposed millage hike.
County Manager Jim Hedges opened the final public hearing with a presentation in which he recommended two potential options for the 2025 millage rate. He said one option was 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 was to roll back the county’s 2025 millage but add back 1.2 mills as was intended after 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. The second option equated to a 2025 millage rate of 11.976 mills. By law, the final millage could not have been set any higher than 11.976 mills since that was the advertised tentative millage.
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 and may have to dip into some or all of the remaining $7.7 million in unrestricted reserve funds to balance its 2026 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 $19 million in total annual property and sales tax revenues for Monroe County by 2035.
Three citizens then weighed in on the proposed millage hike.
Edge Road resident Russ Edge said Commissioners should have considered an alternative increase, somewhere between the rollback rate and the full 1.2-mill hike above the rollback rate. Edge said Commissioners also need to pay closer attention to departmental budgets, citing the recent purchase of new trucks for the Monroe County Sheriff’s Office and the Monroe County Community Development Department.
Edge said, “We need to be smart on how we spend our money. Everything matters.”
Lassiter Road resident Rob Law said the county cannot make it through 2026 without contingency funds, making a 2025 millage increase necessary. Law noted that about half of property tax funds collected within Monroe County go to Monroe County Schools, not the county government.
Cross Creek Circle resident Rolland Keller urged Commissioners to consider switching some county employees to a four-day-a-week, 10-hour-a-day work schedule, saying it has increased productivity and lowered costs for another Georgia county. Keller also urged Commissioners to ensure that Monroe County does not get a reputation as a speed trap because having that reputation will hurt business in the county in the long run.
When it was Commissioners’ turn to discuss, District 1 Commissioner Lamarcus Davis reminded attendees that Board members also pay property taxes and don’t like to have their own property taxes raised either.
Commissioner Davis said, “We’re doing it to ourselves too, but we understand and know what it takes to run this county.”
Commissioner Davis added that the truck purchases cited by Edge were not paid for using property tax revenues. He said many Sheriff’s Office vehicles are purchased through seized funds or allocated within the Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax (SPLOST). He said the new Community Development Department truck was purchased using building permit fee collections, and the Community Development Department’s old truck was shifted for use by the Monroe County Coroner while the Coroner’s old vehicle was moved over the C.A.R.E. Cottage.
District 2 Commissioner Eddie Rowland said in addition to the new industries heading Monroe County’s way, Plant Scherer’s three active units, Units 1-3, are increasing their efficiency, which should increase output and lead to even more future revenues. Commissioner Rowland also said he’s glad that Monroe County is getting a diverse range of new businesses to ensure that the county’s future is not tied up in one single industry as it was for many decades in coal-fueled power production. Commissioner Rowland added that Monroe County voters will decide in 2026 whether to implement a penny Floating Local Option Sales Tax (FLOST) that would bring in additional revenue that could allow property taxes to be lowered by up to three mills in future years.
District 3 Commissioner John Ambrose said he hates to raise taxes but said he didn’t see any alternative in order to keep Monroe County in a good financial position.
Commission Chairman Alan Gibbs said the last thing he wants to do is raise taxes, but he said the county departments need more people and more resources.
After about 35 minutes of discussion, Commissioner Ambrose motioned to set the 2025 millage rate at 11.976 mills, a 1.2-mill increase above the rollback rate. Commissioner Ambrose’s motion was then seconded by Chairman Gibbs and approved 5-0.
