HANCOCK COUNTY, Ga. — Hancock County commissioners are holding three public hearings on a five-mill tax increase. They already held a series of millage rate hearings.
These meetings come after they raised the property tax by 28.47%.
County commissioner Ted Reid says they had to raise property taxes to balance their budget. He blames inflation and millions in unbudgeted spending.
Della Smith says when she heard about the increase, she thought it was a dream. She says she's not pleased.
"I'm not as concerned about paying this increase in taxes, even though I don't like the fact that my money is being misused," Smith said. "I'm more concerned about the people that are trying to pay their taxes and hold on to their homes. But they're trying to do this with a fixed income of $580 or $630. And this is gonna hurt them."
County records last year's budget was around $11 million and this year's is almost $15 million. That's a $4 million increase.
Reid says inflation and other expenses are the cause. He says this shouldn't happen again.
"We have looked at the budget closely. We looked at spending that was in this year's budget that would not be in next year's budget. And the new administration coming in in January will also have ample opportunities to make budget cuts," Reid said.
A 5 mill increase would raise the tax bill on a $100,000 house by $200. The commissioners plan to raise the mill rate from 17.16 to 22.62. Hancock County manager Broderick Foster says they haven't raised the mill rate since 2013.
Reid says other county departments spent more than they thought.
"There were expenses, an ambulance service that was not budgeted for. You're always gonna have overtime and departments that are not budgeted for. You can look at water rates and we lost money on water rate. We had a renovation in the health department where we had matching, so all of this adds up," Reid said.
Smith says the math doesn't make sense and believes the county is spending money in places it shouldn't be.
"I don't understand how we went from roughly $400,000 for the ambulance to now over $1.5 million. And within that budget, what really stood out for me is salaries of almost $900,000 for salaries within that budget," Reid said.
Smith says the county needs to rework where they spend their money and make cuts. With new commissioners coming to the county in January and some expenses not renewed, Reid says this increase is temporary.
"Health insurance for the county will definitely decrease. There won't be an election in Hancock County next year, so we won't have election expenses. There were some renovations in the recreation department where we had matching funds that we won't have next year. So it's quite a substantial amount. So, we're looking forward to a mill rate decrease in the next year," Reid said.
Commissioner Sistie Hudson says the tax commissioner will look at a payment plan for those who may not be able to pay the new amount, but Smith says that may not be enough.
"if you can't pay that budget, then how are you gonna spend this money that you say you need? So to me, that just doesn't make any kind of sense. So, she needs to come up with a different plan," Smith said.
The first two public hearings are on Sept. 18 at 11 a.m. and 6 p.m. at the Hancock County Courthouse.