2022 property tax rates

MOULTRIE , Ga— The Colquitt County Board of Commissioners made one final tweak before approving county property tax rates last Tuesday evening. An hour later, the Moultrie City Council became the last municipality in the county to approve its municipal property tax rates.

Many taxing agencies in the county decreased their millage rates in response to growth in the county’s tax digest. The digest is the taxable value of all property in the county, and the millage rate is applied to that value to determine how much money each agency receives when property taxes are collected. As the digest increases in value, the agencies can set lower millage rates but still collect the same money in the end. The lower rate is called the “rollback rate.”

Some agencies decreased their millage rates to the rollback rate, while others decreased them part way so as to bring in slightly more money than last year.

Colquitt County residents in the municipalities will see their county tax rate stay the same, while those in the unincorporated areas will see a small reduction thanks to a change in the insurance rollback value.

Residents outside of Moultrie, whose taxes to the Special Service District fund the Volunteer Fire Association, will see that rate stay the same at 1.212 mills.

The City of Funston does not collect municipal property taxes, so that rate was unchanged at 0 mills.

The Moultrie-Colquitt County Parks and Recreation Authority will also hold steady after discussions at Tuesday’s commission meeting.

County Administrator Chas Cannon had initially proposed a rollback rate of 1.677 mills for the Moultrie-Colquitt County Parks and Recreation Authority, but on Tuesday commissioners adjusted that rate to 1.755, the same as last year.

Municipalities set their own millage rates without county oversight, although the taxes are collected by the county Tax Commissioner’s Office. The Colquitt County Board of Commissioners must approve all other millage rates — although in the case of the county Board of Education, the commissioners are required by state law to approve what the school board submits.

Two county-wide authorities — the Rec Authority and the Development Authority — also receive property tax money that is collected through the county. The county commission sets their millage rates after discussions with the leaders of those authorities.

At the commission’s Aug. 16 meeting, Commissioner Chris Hunnicutt argued for keeping the Rec Authority’s millage rate at 1.755. Hunnicutt, who sits on the Rec Authority’s board, said the authority needs more operating money.

Hunnicutt was not present at Tuesday’s meeting, but other commissioners spoke up for him.

Chairman Denver Braswell said Hunnicutt had told him the authority hadn’t had “real numbers” for its operation. The City of Moultrie had operated recreation facilities as a city department until the creation of the joint city-county authority in 2017, and Braswell said Hunnicutt had said finances were “in a mess” when the authority began.

Since then, the Rec Authority has funneled millions of dollars into renovations at facilities they say were neglected when the city was in charge. Much of those renovations were funded through a Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax that voters approved in 2017; SPLOST funds can be used only for capital projects, such as construction, renovation or the purchase of big-ticket items like vehicles. They can’t be used for operating expenses.

After the discussion, the county administrator changed his recommendation to keep the Rec Authority’s millage rate the same as last year. Commissioner Paul Nagy moved to approve the rates, seconded by Commissioner Johnny Hardin. The vote to approve them was unanimous, excepting that Hunnicutt and Commissioner Barbara Jelks were not present.

In other action the commission:

• Voted to support a roundabout to be constructed on Gene McQueen Road at Highway 33, the site of a number of serious vehicle accidents over the years. The project, initiated by the Georgia State Patrol, will be paid for by the state Department of Transportation; Cannon said as of now there will be no cost to the county. A timeline provided by the DOT said the concept phase began in July and they expect final plans to be submitted in the summer of 2026 with construction sometime thereafter.

• Approved the sale of a 2021 Dodge Durango from the county Compliance Department to the City of Berlin for $30,000 — which is $2,500 more than the county paid for it in September 2020.

• Approved bids for a tire changing machine and a tire balancer for the county Maintenance Department. O’Reilly Auto Parts was the second-lowest bidder ($9,400) behind Mohawk ($9,259) for the tire changing machine, but the difference was within the county’s local vendor preference of 7%, so O’Reilly won the bid. Similarly, O’Reilly’s bid for the tire balancer ($8,400) was second lowest behind Mohawk ($7,779), but the difference put O’Reilly $33 above the local vendor preference. Commissioners voted to purchase the tire balancer from O’Reilly as well if the company would match Mohawk’s bid, which Cannon said it did on Wednesday morning.

• Approved the purchase of a double oven for the Colquitt County Prison. A company is contracted to provide meals for inmates at both the prison and the Colquitt County Jail, but they use facilities at the prison to prepare the food. Mac Lawson, head of the Maintenance Department, said the bottom half of the current double oven was broken and awaiting parts when the top half also went out. Maintenance workers got the top half working again, but Warden Billy Howell requested a new oven be purchased. The low bid was from Tri-Mark for $10,141.87.

• Agreed to a contract with United Bat Control to remove bats from the building that houses the state Department of Family and Children Services on North Main Street. The state rents the office space from the county and has been pushing the county to remove the bats for more than a year, Cannon said. The cost of the service will be $16,870 but will include a five-year warranty.