Public Hearings on Property Taxes Begin Today

The City of Johns Creek is in the process of establishing its 2011 millage rate and plans to vote on it during its July 25 meeting. The proposed millage rate for the city is 4.614, the same rate since 2007.

Under Georgia law the city is required to hold three public hearings to allow residents an opportunity to voice their opinion on the proposed rate. The public hearings will be held at today, July 11, at 11:30 a.m. and 6 p.m., with the final hearing scheduled for July 25 at 7 p.m. The council will adopt the final millage rate at the July 25 meeting.

So, what is a millage rate? This figure is applied to your property value to calculate property taxes owed, with a mil being equal to $1 of tax for every $1,000 of taxable value. Millage rates are used to fund the budget, as well as used by schools boards to calculate local school taxes to be collected. The general assembly sets the formula for determining assessed value, which is 40 percent of the market value. State and city lawmakers then determine the various millage rates. There are other millage rates that affect the total property taxes due to the county and city. For example, the millage rate for schools and county are different. You can see a break-down on your property tax bill. Fulton County will bill property owners on behalf of Johns Creek as a single bill.

Monte Vavra, finance director for Johns Creek, said the cost of government is equally spread to all property owners based on the value of their property. In other words, you pay no more than is required to fund the budget for the city, the school board and the county. Johns Creek has managed to keep its millage rate low since incorporation. In fact, the city has one of the lowest millage rates in Fulton County.

The Fulton County Board of Commissioners voted unanimously last week to keep the tax rate the same. The board had been considering a plan to raise the millage rate by more than a half mil, but backtracked after it was deemed unnecessary due to tough economic conditions.  

The total millage rate for Johns Creek billed by Fulton County is 33.647, with 4.614 being the city’s portion. The rest goes to the county and the school board.

Though usually required, Johns Creek cannot publish a five-year history of its tax digest, property tax revenues and millage rate because it was not incorporated until Dec. 1, 2006. However, the city has published information for 2007 to 2010. The Board of Tax Assessors reviews the assessed value of taxable property in the county on an annual basis. The board determines the property value if the trend of prices of recently sold properties indicates there has been a change in fair market value and will adjust the assessment accordingly.