Monroe County Commissioners unanimously approved in a special called meeting on Thursday, Aug. 27 to set a final 2026 county millage rate of 7.9 mills, the county’s lowest millage rate in 27 years.
Monroe County Manager Lorri Byrd said Monroe County advertised for a 4.076-mill reduction from the county’s 2025 millage rate of 11.976 mills to its 2026 millage rate of 7.9 mills, which represents a millage rate reduction of just over 34 percent.
The final millage rate of 7.9 mills, which is about 2.8 mills lower than the rollback rate, is the county’s lowest since Commissioners set a millage rate of 7.35 mills in 1999. Commissioners set a millage rate of 8.25 mills the following year in 2000, and the county’s millage rate has never been that low again until now.
Under the final millage of 7.9 mills, a Monroe County homeowner with a home valued at $300,000 and a Homestead Exemption will pay $853.20 in county property taxes for 2026, a reduction of $440.21 from the $1,293.41 the same homeowner paid in 2025. In addition, the State of Georgia’s 2026 Homeowner Tax Relief Grant (HTRG) will also be applied to 2026 tax bills for an additional one-time tax cut of $500 for active homesteads.
Byrd said a millage rate of 7.9 mills will net a total amount of levied property taxes in 2026 of $16,355,378, down $4,589,426 (or just over 21.9 percent) from the $20,944,804 in property taxes levied in 2025.
District 1 Commissioner Lamarcus Davis noted that the lowest established millage rate since 1999 only applies to Monroe County, not the City of Forsyth or the Monroe County Board of Education. The City of Forsyth has advertised for a 2026 millage rate of 2 mills, which is the same as in 2025, while the Board of Education has advertised for a 2026 millage rate of 14.999 mills with three public hearings set for next month. The millage rates of Monroe County, the City of Forsyth (if a city resident), and the Monroe County Board of Education will all be combined on your tax bills to establish a final property tax amount for 2026.
Commission Chairman Alan Gibbs said this may well be the largest single-year property tax cut in Monroe County’s history.
“This is not smoke and mirrors,” Chairman Gibbs said. “This is money back in your pockets.”
And Chairman Gibbs said the 2026 tax cut is just the beginning, noting that the recently approved Floating Local Option Sales Tax (FLOST), which is expected to further reduce the county’s millage rate by about 3 mills, won’t even take effect until 2027 since FLOST collections aren’t slated to begin until October 2026. Chairman Gibbs also pointed out that anticipated major sales tax and/or property tax revenue generators like Buc-ee’s, the Rumble Technology Campus, and the Oglethorpe Power natural gas plant will be coming to Monroe County over the next several years that could further reduce county property taxes.
District 2 Commissioner Eddie Rowland said he pleaded with the Georgia Department of Revenue (DOR) and state legislators to allow Monroe County to reduce 2026 property taxes even lower knowing that FLOST proceeds are set to come in later this year. However, he said state officials mandated that FLOST monies must actually be collected and banked before they can be used for tax relief. Nevertheless, Commissioner Rowland said he hopes Monroe County citizens will be pleased with what their actual tax bills show compared what they feared their tax bills might look like when they received their updated valuations earlier this summer.
Commissioner Rowland said, “The future is bright as far as a property taxpayer in Monroe County.”
After about 15 minutes of discussion, Chairman Gibbs motioned to approve a final 2026 millage rate of 7.9 mills for Monroe County. Chairman Gibbs’ motion was then seconded by Commissioner Davis and approved 5-0.
Later in Thursday’s meeting, during “Public Comments,” Frank Bunn Drive resident Nipper Bunn thanked Commissioners for lowering the county’s millage rate. Bunn said he’s glad Monroe County has a “good team” in place to manage the county’s finances led by Byrd and the Commissioners.
