Sunday Edition July 21, 2019 BARTOW COUNTY’S ONLY DAILY NEWSPAPER $1.50 Bartow millage rate to remain unchanged BY JAMES SWIFT increase in property taxes by 5.91% with a brief press release, which gave a [proportionally.]”
[email protected] for unincorporated Bartow County little more context to the situation. All that to say, essentially, that the and 7.40% for incorporated Bartow “State law requires this to be adver- County property tax rate is remain- When is a property tax increase not County.” tised as a tax increase since the State ing the same as it was last year. That a tax increase? But as Olson explained, what that measures change not against the ac- means a home with a fair market value According to Bartow County Ad- technically means is that the Coun- tual prior-year millage rate, but rather (FMV) of $175,000 in incorporated ministrator Peter Olson, whenever the ty’s overall tax digest increased, thus against the ‘rollback rate,’” that release Bartow without a homestead exemp- State says it is. resulting in an uptick in the County’s reads. “The rollback rate is calculated tion, for example, would have a millage “We get frustrated with the lan- overall tax revenue. by subtracting any increase in the di- rate of 10.30 mills, which would come guage,” he said. “The State makes us “So they make us call that ‘a tax in- gest due to reassessment.” out to about $49.70. For a non-home- advertise a ‘tax increase,’ but we’re crease,’” he said.