Columbia County is proposing a lowering of the millage rate for fiscal year 2023-24.
The news came from County Manager Scott Johnson during the county budget public hearing on Tuesday, May 2. He said the county has budgeted a 5% increase in the tax digest and he is confident the county will hit that mark, if not go over it. With that increase comes the ability to lower the millage rate.
“It’s going to be my recommendation based on the increase in the digest that we role our net millage rate for M&O on the general fund side from 5.147 mills to 4.999 mills,” Johnson said. “That is a bit of a benchmark just to be able to get us below five mills. Again, I think it puts us in very good company. When you look at counties our size, to have a millage rate below five is just almost unheard of. So, we’re very fortunate that we’re able to still balance the budget with what we need and also give some money back to our taxpayers.”
For the debt services, the net millage for the 2017 bonds is decreasing slightly from 0.411 to 0.398 and the 2022 bond net millage is decreasing 0.272 to 0.218, Johnson said. This will bring the total debt millage to 0.616, which is decreasing from 0.683 in 2022. For fire, the net millage is staying the same at 2.788. These changes will rollback the total millage rate from 8.618 to 8.403.
“If the property values continue to increase in Columbia County, then we can pass those savings back onto our citizens,” Johnson said.
The $95 million general fund, along with the other funds, is balanced, Johnson said. The only outstanding item is the COLA raise, which is currently being worked on. There is an amount listed in the budget, but because of promotions and reclassifications, the county is double checking to make sure fair adjustments are being given to employees.
“We have some individual adjustments that we still need to make and that will be put before you,” Johnson said. “But I don’t see that number changing much and if it does certainly we’ll bring that to you before the budget is adopted.”
Johnson also discussed the title ad valorem tax (TAVT) transfer, which he said the law changed how it is collected a few years ago.
“We actually lost out on sales tax, so Columbia County made the decision back then to just tax that lost revenue and then role that into a capital improvement fund, that is our TAVT fund,” Johnson said. “We use that on a regular basis to fund different things, whether it be transportation, paving, recreational, whatever the case may be. You’ll see the transfer of the TAVT is actually budgeted this year.”
The county has a contingency goal of 2.5% and has hit that goal with an actual contingency of 2.55%, Johnson said.
District 1 Commissioner Connie Melear asked how Columbia County’s general fund compares to other counties.
Johnson stated that the general fund is higher that McDuffie and Lincoln counties, which are smaller than Columbia County. But, compared to Richmond County it is lower.
“They have different things that they pay for out of their general fund, but we are certainly in a good place,” Johnson said. “For Columbia County to be the size that it is, the number of employees we have, the service we provide, with general fund budget of less than $100 million, this year you’re looking at a general fund of $95 million is what we’re budgeting, $95.2 million, we continue to do good things with less money than a lot of our benchmark counties.”
Besides the general fund, Johnson said the other services funds are also balanced.
For sales tax collections, Johnson said the local option sales tax (LOST) continues to increase, which is what the county has seen for the past few years.
Commissioners will vote on the budget at the second meeting in June. If needed, a joint budget meeting will be held May 16. Commissioners will vote on the budget the June 20 meeting. To view the full budget hearing, visit the Columbia County YouTube page.
