BLUE RIDGE, Ga – Fannin Commissioners set the overall county millage rate at 14.253 mills and accepted the county and school system’s rollbacks.

Fannin County Schools rolled their millage rate back from 10.593 to 10.391 mills on Thursday, August 27. Previously, commissioners proposed to roll the county portion of the millage rate back to 3.938 to 3.862 mills. Typically, Fannin’s millage rate is one of the five lowest in Georgia.

“ The coronavirus, it’s effected [every person in one way or another.] At this current time, I don’t see any way of even thinking about a tax increase that would be my ten cents,” Post One Earl Johnson stated.

The county-side of the millage rate accounts for around 35 percent of the tax revenues. It affects all property owners or renters living in Fannin. The larger portion of county revenues come from SPLOST, LOST, and hotel/motel collections, and those taxes continue to do well during the pandemic.

“The millage rate really gets to the heart of the citizens here,” Chairman Stan Helton added. “Many of them are elderly…and low-income folks that live here on a fixed income. I feel a necessity just like you do on keeping the millage rate on these folks as low as we can.”

In the past, Fannin decided to use SPLOST, LOST, and hotel/motels funds on some public safety and capital outlay projects.

“As the county has grown, we’ve put those tax collections on the right group, and that’s primarily the visitors and tourists that we’re blessed in this county to have,” Helton said.

He continued to stress that the county isn’t cheating public safety or any other department but easing the burden of people who struggle.

Johnson included that he hoped, at the beginning of 2020, he hoped to maintain the millage rate to take advantage of new growth. The 2019 audit report revealed an additional $381,000 in property taxes just from new developments. However, 2020 had other plans with COVID-19 and widespread unemployment.

Post Two Glenn Patterson wasn’t present at the meeting due to technical difficulties over the teleconference meeting.