When this paper reported Columbus property owners were facing a 21% bump in property tax bills next year, readers were understandably outraged.
Unfairly, most of the blame has been placed on the Columbus City Council, but we argue the city has done the most to prevent a tax bump. Your displeasure is most appropriately directed at the county and city school district.
Let us explain.
If you live in the city, your tax bill has three components: city taxes, county taxes and city school taxes. The amount you pay in taxes is based on the value of a mill and the number of mills each of those three need to pay their bills.
This year’s budget process features a new wrinkle that seems like a non-sequitur: millage reductions that actually mean homeowners will have to pay more taxes.
This seeming contradiction is due to routine re-valuing of real estate by the state. As a result, all houses in Lowndes County – and the value of a mill – will be worth 18%-20% more for tax purposes next year than they are this year.
To keep property taxes the same next year as they are now, the city would need to cut its millage by about 4 mills. The city council’s current budget plan is to reduce its millage – excluding mills for city schools – by 1.11 mills.
Meanwhile, the millage for county taxes – which Columbus homeowners also pay – is expected to go down by a paltry 0.28 mills.
In other words, the city has tried to minimize the impact of the re-valuing, while the county is pocketing nearly the entire increase.
But guess who is catching hell? The Columbus City Council, even though they are the party least responsible for that extra $200 to $300 the average homeowner will pay in property taxes as things stand right now.
Complaints from homeowners are ringing in the ears of the city council, so much so that the council plans to have tax assessor Greg Andrews meet with them during Thursday’s work session with the possibility of voting to cut the city millage even further.
We’re not sure that’s the best plan for the city.
In the meantime, the county will pocket a cool extra $1.7 million through its trifling millage reduction. The city schools will see an extra $1 million after assuring voters that the passage of a $36 million bond issue would not result in new taxes.
Homeowners may feel justified in their anger, but in reality, that anger has been misdirected. As it stands, those responsible for the lion’s share of the property tax increase homeowners see are the Lowndes County Board of Supervisors and the Columbus Municipal School District.
We urge you to contact your supervisors – yes, city citizens are represented by county supervisors too – and city school board members to voice your thoughts. A 21% increase in taxes is too much for citizens to swallow in a single year.
Editor’s note: Contact information for elected officials can be found in The Dispatch’s annual Insight magazine, which is available free in our office and online.
The Dispatch Editorial Board is made up of publisher Peter Imes, columnist Slim Smith, managing editor Zack Plair and senior newsroom staff.
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