The Bulloch County Board of Commissioners on Tuesday evening set the county government portion of the property tax milage rate at 11.35 mills – unchanged from last year’s but technically involving a 6.5% tax increase – and also formally adopted the Board of Education’s 10.4 mill rate, which includes a much larger increase.

A third element, the “fire district” tax rate for funding the Bulloch County Fire Department, was also set, at 3 mills in the Board of Commissioners’ total millage rate resolution.

Last year, the five-mile radius “city” fire district, which was beyond the Statesboro city limits but served until June 30 by the Statesboro Fire Department, paid a 2.7-mill county fire tax for revenue passed on to the city, while residents of a “rural” district covering the rest of the county paid 3.0 mills to support the BCFD.

But since the county Fire Department took over service to the former five-mile district on July 1, the county now has a single fire district for all areas outside the Statesboro city limits, and commissioners agree to a single rate at 3 mills. (Statesboro property owners are exempt from the fire service part of the county tax but pay the rest of the county taxes as well as the city’s separate property tax.)

So, for all Bulloch County properties outside Statesboro, the rates will be 11.35 mills for county government, 3 mills for fire service and now, 10.4 mills for maintenance and operation of the Bulloch County Schools. Together, those rates total 24.75 mills.

A mill is 1/1000th the value of property as assessed for taxes, and most in Georgia is assessed at 40% of market value. So, a $300,000 rural property – roughly the average value of a residential property in Bulloch County – will now incur total county taxes (including also the school and fire service taxes) – of over $2,900, without subtracting for any exemptions.

Commissioners’ 6.5% rise

For keeping the county government rate at 11.35 mills instead of reducing it to the “rollback” rate of 10.657 mills that would have compensated for average inflation in property values, the commissioners had to advertise a 6.5% increase and hold three hearings.

That 6.5% increase amounts to approximately $82.61 added tax on an owner-occupied home with a market value of $300,000, or an increase of $76.23 on a non-homestead property with a market value of $275,000.

The commissioners held their last tax increase hearing at 6 p.m. Tuesday, then voted to set the rates. Only two citizens spoke at the last hearing, and the commissioners’ hearings were lightly attended compared to those of the Board of Education, which were advertised for a nearly 3-mill increase above last year’s school funding millage.

That school tax hike to 10.4 mills, as reported in a separate story, amounted to a 39.67% increase from a rollback rate of 7.446 mills, and adds approximately $349 tax on a $300,000 average homestead property or $325 on a $275,000 non-homestead property.

‘Ministerial duty’

Because the commissioners’ resolution included the Board of Education rate, Commissioner Timmy Rushing, before the vote was taken, asked County Attorney Jeff Akins to clarify what power the commissioners have in setting the Board of Education’s tax rate. Both are locally elected boards.

“Well, they are what’s called a recommending authority,” Akins said of the school board.

“It’s in the (Georgia) Constitution,” he said. “They basically set their millage rate. Now, you have to levy it, because I don’t think they have the power or authority to actually levy the tax, but it’s clear – there are several older cases on this – that it’s a ministerial duty on the Board of Commissioners. … You’ve got to levy whatever it is they want to do.”

On a motion from Commissioner Anthony Simmons, seconded by Rushing, the vote to approve the total millage rate resolution was 5-1, with Commissioner Nick Newkirk voting “no.”