Douglasville, Georgia Development News

Douglasville Maintains Maintenance and Operations Millage Rate While Bond Rate Decreases, Resulting in Overall Tax Rate Reduction

The City of Douglasville held a public hearing to consider the proposed 2026 advalorem tax millage rate for maintenance and operations. The proposed millage rate for maintenance and operations is 8.749, which is no increase from the previous year. However, the city is required to advertise a tax increase due to state regulations if any property values have increased, even if the millage rate remains the same. The bond millage rate is decreasing by 30%, from 1.287 to 0.9. This decrease in the bond millage rate, combined with the stable maintenance and operations rate, will result in a decrease in the total tax rate from 10.036 to 9.649, a 4.86% decrease. This decrease in the bond millage rate is not required to be advertised as it is used to repay voter-approved general obligation bonds. The increase in total digest values is attributed to new growth (13% of total revenue) and reassessed property (7% of total revenue), with a significant increase in commercial personal property (101%). The city is maintaining the millage rate due to inflationary costs, to position the city for future legislative changes, and to provide tax stability. The decrease in the bond millage rate is intended to provide tax relief. Public hearings are scheduled for July 25th, the evening of the current hearing, and August 3rd at 5:00 p.m. [cite: 8-11, 17-27, 34-38, 40-44, 46-47, 72-75, 77-91, 95-103, 105-115, 126-134, 135-139, 140-148, 156-162, 163-167]