Walker County proposes property tax increase

Due to a change in the millage rate that will cause an increase in property taxes, the Walker County Board of Commissioners has announced three public meetings as required by Georgia law.

The proposed millage rate was discussed at the Walker County Board of Commissioners on Thursday night, along with the county’s fiscal year 2023 proposed general budget. The county’s $31.6 million budget will be adopted by the commission along with the new millage rate at the final meeting planned for Sept. 1.

“We are looking at how much property valuations have gone up,” said Shannon Whitfield, chairman of the Walker County Board of Commissioners, at the meeting. “And the average property evaluation has gone up in our county this past year, they tell us, around 25%. This (millage rate) represents that rollback to offset that inflationary factor of increases in property values.”

Public meetings on the millage rate will take place Thursday, Aug. 25, at 8 a.m. and 6:30 p.m., and Thursday, Sept. 1, at 6:30 p.m. The morning meeting on Aug. 25 will be held at the Walker County Civic Center (10052 Highway 27, Rock Spring), and both evening meetings will be held at the Walker County Courthouse Annex III (201 S Main St., LaFayette).

The proposed millage rate of 7.200 mills in the unincorporated area of the county represents a reduction from the 8.313 mills rate from 2021. In the incorporated areas of the county, the proposed rate of 10.293 mills represents a decrease from last year’s rate of 11.963 mills, according to a media release from Walker County.

Even though the tax rate may go down, taxes paid would go up on average because of the increase in property values.

For a home with a fair market value of $225,000, the proposed millage rate would result in a property tax increase of approximately $34.92 in the county’s unincorporated area, and $34.58 in the incorporated areas.

The fiscal year 2023 proposed general budget was released Thursday. The 2023 fiscal year begins Oct. 1.

According to research by Rachel Clark, chief financial officer for Catoosa County,

Walker County has Northwest Georgia’s lowest millage rate. Catoosa County has the second-lowest millage rate proposal at 7.348 mills, while Dade County is proposing a rate of 8.0 mills and Whitfield County — including its special tax district — is proposing a rate of 10.75 mills.

Commissioner Whitfield said Walker County’s budget contains an increase of $2.2 million over the FY 2021 budget. The increase in personnel costs is $1.9 million, he said, which “in summary, 88.63% of the proposed budget increase is personnel-related cost.”

Whitfield said there have been two raises for hourly county employees recently: $1.20 in April and another 80 cents is included in the proposed budget. Everyone is feeling the pressure of increased cost right now, he said, and this raise is “going to help us (the county) be more competitive in the marketplace” and retain employees.

The detailed budget and summary are both on the county’s website.

Chris Arnt, district attorney for the Lookout Mountain Judicial Circuit, said he came to testify at the commission meeting to explain why he’s asking for an increased budget. He said he’s seen increases in the state’s retirement plan, the pay scale for state employees and other benefits.

The Lookout Mountain Judicial Circuit covers the counties of Catoosa, Chattooga, Dade, and Walker. Arnt said the circuit is funded by the state as well as the counties.

Three new assistant district attorneys are ready to be brought on, Arnt said, two “fresh out” of law school and one that has been working in Atlanta for a few years.

“All prosecutors across the state are facing a historic shortage in district attorneys,” he said. “We’ve been running four short for over a year.”

Walker County had to reschedule the first millage rate meetings because the law requires that the published advertisement be 30 square inches — and when it ran in a local newspaper it was 2 1/2 inches too small. The county was forced to restart the process, Whitfield said.