The Dalton City Council voted Monday night to set the city’s final millage rate for 2024 property taxes at the rollback rate of 1.527 mills. That’s a decrease of more than 21 percent from the 2023 millage rate of 1.936 mills and will amount to a slight decrease in tax collections compared to 2023. In accordance with a new state law, the council also voted Monday to certify an estimated rollback millage rate for 2025’s property taxes of 1.6 mills.
The vote on 2024’s final millage rate puts an end to what turned out to be a complicated process, officials said. Last year, many property owners in Dalton and Whitfield County were concerned when they received their tax assessment notices. Many property owners saw the assessed value of their property increase, and in some cases decrease, substantially when compared with 2023 values.
Due to concerns over the accuracy of the tax digest, the Whitfield County Superior Court issued a temporary tax collection order which allowed more time for assessors to set the final tax digest. During that time, taxing authorities like the city of Dalton were allowed to use 2023’s property tax values, increased by 10 percent, as the basis for setting a millage rate and mailing temporary tax bills.
In recent weeks, the Whitfield County Board of Assessors issued the final tax digest for 2024 which required the taxing authorities to set their final millage rates. In the case of the city of Dalton, the rollback millage rate of 1.527 mills was set to offset increases in the overall tax digest caused by reassessment.
The city’s Finance Department estimates that this tax levy will decrease property tax collections by $197,607 compared to 2023. However, even though the millage rate amounts to a small tax decrease, some property owners may see their final bills go up compared to 2023. Because the city can only use the tax digest as a whole to calculate the rollback millage rate, including commercial and industrial properties as well as residential properties, some property owners whose assessments went up may see an increase in their bill. Property owners whose final bills were lower than the temporary tax bills mailed last year will be issued refunds.
Separate from the process for 2024’s property taxes, the vote to certify an estimated rollback millage rate for 2025’s property taxes was made in accordance with a new state law. The law, which was passed earlier this year, directs local governments to certify an estimate for the rollback millage rate at least 15 days before annual property assessment notices are mailed out so the rollback estimate could be included on the notice. In the past, property assessments were sent out with the previous year’s millage rates included which often caused confusion.
Under the new law, property owners can estimate their 2025 tax bill using a more accurate millage rate. This rate is only an estimate and the City Council will vote to set the final 2025 millage rate later this year.