BROOKS COUNTY — Brooks County residents can expect higher property taxes if the recent proposals from the Brooks County Board of Commissioners, Brooks County Board of Education, City of Quitman and City of Morven are approved after a series of public hearings.

County and city officials have tentatively adopted rates that will increase property taxes in their respective areas.

Brooks County commissioners recently announced plans to increase rates by 1.14 percent for incorporated areas and 9.60 percent for unincorporated areas. According to a press release, 50.60 is to be levied for the Briggs Fire District on the 1 mill for fire protection. However, the Industrial Authority will not see an increase.

The board explained that the tax increase is unavoidable due to the following:

l Brooks County currently has 151,195 acres in conservation use. The average price per acre of this land was reduced from $2,931 to $522 because of conservation use assessment, which removed $346, 294, 858 of value from the digest.

l Personal property digests decreased $6,624,593 (40 percent value) from 2007 to 2008. Eighty percent of this decrease was due to formerly taxable equipment being exempt by Georgia Department of Natural Resources.

l The 1 mill tax in Briggs fire district is not eligible for millage rollback.

The board of tax assessors is required to review the assessed value of taxable property in the county every year and when a trend of prices

on properties sold in the county indicate an increase in fair market value, the board must redetermine the value of the property and increase the assessment. When the total digest of taxable property is prepared, a rollback millage rate must be computed to produce the same total revenue on the current year’s digest as the last year’s rate would have produced if no reassessments took place.

In response to the results of the review of assessed taxable property value, the City of Morven has proposed a 2.14 percent rise in property tax, Morven City Clerk Sandy Rentz reported. The City of Quitman has also announced plans to increase property taxes by 20.73 percent due to inflation and the increasing costs of survival.

“We’re seeing costs go up in fuel, equipment and other supplies needed for daily operations in the city and we just have a need for additional funds to go into our operation account,” City Clerk Janice Jarvis explained.

Brooks County Schools Finance Director Wanda Thompson said that school system’s current budget simply calls for a rise in taxes, which is why the Brooks County Board of Education has proposed an 8.75 percent increase in property tax.

“The state recently gave teachers a raise in salary; however, the state does not fund the salaries of other school employees,” Thompson said. “The price of fuel has increased drastically and our textbook allotment is never sufficient.”

The first readings of public hearings in the separate jurisdictions are scheduled throughout the week for more discussion and the opportunity for citizens to voice their concerns.

Public Hearing Schedules