Bartow County’s millage rate is decreasing this year from previous years. The 2026 rate will be 6.76 mills compared to 6.87 mills last year. County officials pointed out at the Bartow County commissioner’s meeting Wednesday that the new rate 30 percent lower than the 9.68 rate of 2013-14.
The new millage rate didn’t have to be advertised and be the subject of public hearings because it dropped, according to Peter Olson with Bartow County.
Commissioner Steve Taylor compared Bartow County’s millage rate with Walton County, saying that Walton County had the closest demographics to this county. Walton County has a 14.643 mill rate.
“The different is Bartow has a lot of industrial that we added to the tax base,” Taylor said, adding that other counties like Cherokee and Paulding were more residential.
Numbers show that Cherokee County’s tax rate is 8.561 and Paulding County’s is 7.2 mills. Olson said these were the latest numbers available and some may change as counties review millage rates. Cherokee may see a significant increase, he said.
Neighboring Floyd County is also looking at millage increase. Olson, said the county had frozen the residential millage for 20 years, so the new residential rates are going to be higher.
What does Bartow County’s millage rate mean in dollars? Someone with a $200,000 residential property and a $15,000 homestead exemption would pay $439.40 in county taxes. That doesn’t account for school board or city taxes as those are handled separately by those boards and councils.
Olson said approval of a $30,000 net homestead exemption will remove $780 million of fair market value properties from taxation. Additionally, a floating homestead exemption would remove another $500 million from the taxable digest.
A fixed or standard homestead exemption is set for a specific amount. It remains the same even if the assessed values rise, so taxes will go up based on the new value even if the millage remains the same.
A floating homestead exemption is when the amount allowed to be taxed adjusts yearly as the value of your property increases. The purpose is to offset taxable increases in assessed value.
Floating homestead exemptions can freeze the county’s portion of the value so it doesn’t rise, or limit increases to a percentage.
Bartow County intends to increase homestead tax relieve as the taxable value of new data centers hits the tax digest, Olson said. He said the county wants to continue decreasing the millage but it depends on the economy and actions taken by the state legislature.
Olson discussed how Bartow County is working with the Georgia General Assembly to lower property taxes. He said the county requested local legislation where the penny sales tax would be designated to offset residential property taxes but Democrats defeated it.
Much tax legislation remains within the General Assembly to be worked on next year and new assessments can affect the final tax bill. He said the General Assembly will likely do more in 2027 to limit property tax revenue and that could harm local governments by reducing the money they have to run counties.
Melody Dareing is a freelance writer for publications in the U.S, Canada, the UK and Germany. She is a former news director of Adelphia Channel 4 and WBHF Radio. She is on Facebook, X, YouTube, content on Substack, and has a podcast on Rumble.