Editor’s Note: This letter was published in the July 11, 2017, Moultrie Observer but was accidentally left off the website at that time.

Dear editor:

I enjoyed reading your recent article on property taxes, however I feel that it was a little misleading.

When viewed separately, Colquitt County’s millage rate may be the highest of those you compared.  But when you combine the millage rates with the Board of Education, you will notice that our combined millage will likely be lower or more closely aligned with counties similar to ours in terms of population, size, and land use.  Our Board of Education millage is 10.281, much lower than the surrounding counties.  It’s low because they receive the LOST penny, which can be used to cover costs for maintenance and operations.  Colquitt County is one of only eight counties across the state that do not receive the LOST penny.  Here in Colquitt, that LOST penny is worth about 4 to 5 mils.

For example:  Tift County BOE millage is 17.946.  Baldwin County BOE millage is 17.06.  Lowndes County BOE millage is 16.911.  Whitfield County BOE millage is 18.756.  The point is that the BOE millage for these counties is well above the BOE millage for Colquitt County.  When combined, Colquitt County’s unincorporated (and some of the incorporated) millage is lower than all the other Georgia counties you listed in your article.  

 Another point that could be made comes from exemptions and land use in the counties presented in the article.  Colquitt County is zoned 90% Ag.  As you are probably aware, they are many exemptions for Agriculture throughout the state – most of which are on sales and property taxes.  On sales tax, the GATE card essentially allows those who qualify to make sales tax exempt purchases on all capital items related to the operation of a farm.  On the property tax side, Colquitt County has about 65% of its land area enrolled in the Conservation Use Valuation Assessment (CUVA) – which is a heavy exemption on property taxes – nearly $3M per year.  It is very unlikely, although I cannot mathematically confirm, that the other counties listed in your article do not have the same land use or the exemptions for sales and property taxes that Colquitt County has.  

My point is that, unless you are comparing millage rates among counties of similar size, population, and land use (particularly Ag), my opinion is that it is not an apples to apples comparison.

 My concern is that for those reading your article who wish to locate / open a business or re-locate a family are now of the opinion that they will pay a higher tax amount if they move to Colquitt County when they would actually have a lower tax bill than any of the other locations listed in the article.

Chas Cannon

Colquitt County administrator