MOULTRIE — The Colquitt County Board of Commissioners set a variety of property tax rates Tuesday evening, Aug. 22.

Nearly all of the rates were less than last year because an increase on property values throughout the county means the same tax revenue can come from lower millage rates.

Owners whose property did not increase in value should see a lower tax bill later this year. If a property did increase in value, the size of that change will determine whether the owner’s tax bill is smaller, the same or larger than last year.

While most of the millage rates had been decided weeks ago, the county couldn’t formally vote on them until the Colquitt County Board of Education set its rate. Under state law, the county has to collect the tax that the BOE sets; other tax rates are at the county commissioners’ discretion.

The BOE met simultaneously Tuesday night, and the county commission had to recess for about 20 minutes until they received word of the BOE’s millage rate vote.

Tax rates approved Tuesday were:

• Unincorporated, the area outside any of the cities in the county: 11.229 mills, down from 11.889 last year.

• Incorporated, the area inside of any of the cities: 13.832 mills, down from 14.665 last year.

• Special Service District, which includes all of the county except the City of Moultrie and funds the Volunteer Fire Association: 1.212 mills, the same as last year.

• Board of Education: 8.239 mills, down from 8.685 last year.

• Economic Development Authority: 0.256 mills, down from 0.270 last year.

• Parks and Recreation Authority: 1.665 mills, down from 1.755 last year.

The Special Service District tax stayed the same so that the increased property values would result in increased revenue. As a Volunteer Fire Association spokesman explained during county budget meetings in May, the VFA contracts to buy one vehicle per year for five years, a combination of fire trucks and tankers. At the end of six such five-year contracts, each of the county’s 15 fire stations will have two new vehicles: one new fire truck and one new tanker.

This year, which is the beginning of another contract, the fire association is facing dramatically higher prices for trucks, VFA Vice President Jeremy Sutton told commissioners. Similar increases have been seen for other heavy equipment and even passenger vehicles since the supply disruptions caused by the Covid-19 pandemic.

“When we purchased them [fire trucks] in 2019, they were $200,000,” Sutton said. “Now they’re $400,000.”

Tuesday’s vote is not quite the final word: Some of the county’s municipalities have not yet set their millage rates but are expected to do so soon. The Colquitt County Tax Commissioner’s Office sends tax bills for all of the property taxes together. Those bills are expected to go out in early October and to come due in December.