The County’s portion of the overall millage rate is 7.896 mills, which is the same as last year.

During the meeting, the Board of Commissioners adopted a required resolution for all millage rates levied in the County, including the Board of Education.

The board voted to adopt the County’s Maintenance and Operations (M&O) millage rate of 4.791 mills, the same as last year. Due to the growth in the tax digest, Maintenance & Operating property taxes levied by the County this year will increase by a net 1.98% over the rollback millage rate. The Board also voted to approve the Fire rate of 2.175 mills (same as last year) and a Bond rate of 0.930 mills (same as last year). 

These rates will fund the County’s 2022 general operating budget, which is currently in the preliminary stages of development. Forsyth County continues to have millage rates among the lowest in metro Atlanta.

A growth of 4.54% in Forsyth County’s tax digest means that, while the county is maintaining the same millage rates with no change, the anticipated total collections will increase. Of the 4.54% growth, 2.52% is due to new construction in 2020 and the remaining 2.02% comes from increased values from reassessments.

Any change in an individual tax bill will depend upon the change in assessed valuation for that property, and the value of any Homestead Exemption, which may also change with the assessed value. Forsyth County has a “floating” Homestead Exemption, which is designed to keep the net taxable value at the prior year’s amount. This “floating” exemption only applies to the county M&O and fire portions of property tax bills.

Forsyth County staff, Finance Committee and Board of Commissioners will continue preparing the County’s proposed 2022 budget, which is slated for adoption in October.