The Waycross City Commission will vote on a proposed millage rate for 2024 during a called meeting at 4 p.m. Wednesday, October 30 in City Hall.
Commissioners set the session to vote on a proposed rate of 8.748 mils Tuesday, October 15 during their bi-monthly meeting following a presentation from Finance Director Greg Smith at Monday’s planning and information session.
The rate is a millage rollback that will still realize the city $254,477 in revenue despite not being a tax increase, Smith said. The revenue is the result of higher property evaluations in the city.
It is the first time since 2020’s rate of 11.876 realized the city six figures in tax revenue. That year the net tax was $215,224.
The proposed rate is a significant drop over the 2023 figure of 11.013 that brought the city $85,048 in revenue over 2022. Revenue from the 2024 proposal would be a 6.53 percent increase over the 2023 earnings.
Gross digest for 2024 shows a valuation of $528,502,378 with a net value of $474,556,447 after exemptions of $53,945,931. Real and personal property account for all but about $3.8 million of the gross digest.
By comparison, the 2023 gross digest was $383,621,085. Its net was $353,849,316 after $29,771,769 in exemptions.
The Ware County Board of Education will vote on its proposed millage rate of 14.0 at noon, October 31 at the board offices. That rate will realize the school system $16,378,839, an increase of $2.25 million or 15.93 percent over 2023 when the rate was 15.064.
The Ware County Commission will consider a proposed millage rate of 11.736 during a called meeting at 10 a.m. Friday, November 1 in the Administration Building. The rate is a drop of nearly two mils (13.826 in 2023) over last year.
The county will realize a net increase in taxes of $751,890 with the rate or a 6.01 percent hike over the 2023 figure.
