The Dawson County Board of Commissioners announced this week that it intends to leave the current millage rate of 8.138 unchanged, which would increase the 2017 property taxes it will levy this year by 4.45 percent over the rollback millage rate.

Chairman Billy Thurmond made the recommendation.

“My recommendation to the other board members is to leave it at 8.138 so that we can use the additional revenue that it generates to meet the service delivery needs of the county,” he said Tuesday.

A millage rate of 8.138 means that the proposed tax increase for a home with a fair market value of $250,000 is $34.70, and the proposed tax increase for non-homestead property with a fair market value of $200,000 is approximately $27.76, according to the ad.

Three public hearings will be held for citizens to attend and speak on the matter before the board takes a final vote. The hearings will be held in the commissioners meeting room at the Dawson County Government Building on Aug. 10 at 4 p.m. and 9 a.m. and 6 p.m. Aug. 17.

The board of tax assessors reviews the assessed value of properties in the county each year, according to the ad.

“When the trend of prices on properties that have recently sold in the county indicate there has been an increase in the fair market value of any specific property, the board of tax assessors is required by law to re-determine the value of such property and adjust the assessment,” the ad reads. “This is called a reassessment.”

When the total digest of taxable property is prepared, Georgia law requires that a rollback millage rate must be computed that will produce the same total revenue on the current year’s digest that last year’s millage rate would have produced had no reassessments occurred. In this case the rollback millage rate would be 7.791.

“The FY 2018 budget tentatively adopted by the Dawson County Board of Commissioners requires a millage rate higher than the rollback millage rate to be able to maintain and continue to provide much needed services to the citizens of the County,” the ad states. “Therefore, before the Dawson County Board of Commissioners may finalize the tentative budget and set a final millage rate, Georgia law requires three public hearings to be held to allow the public an opportunity to express their opinions on the increase.”

Last year the board voted not to rollback the millage rate, resulting in a 4.32 percent increase over the rollback millage rate.