For the fifth straight year, Macon-Bibb County reduced the property tax rate, which has plummeted nearly 53% since 2021.
During Tuesday’s meeting, county commissioners approved the new rate of 9.575, which is less than half of the 20.331 rate that has continually dropped since Mayor Lester Miller took office.
It was Miller’s recommendation “that we allow the community to keep more of their money and continue to spend the money as they see fit in their families,” he said.
Miller said he believes the county has been good stewards of finances by increasing services and meeting the “vital needs within our budget for services for our community.”
The efficient use of sales tax has allowed another millage rollback while surrounding communities and Bibb County School District have raised taxes, he said.
Commissioner Valerie Wynn said she was pleased to decrease property taxes for citizens while counties to the north and south are “raising taxes.”
“They’re going to be coming back to Macon pretty soon,” Wynn said.
Not all were as enthusiastic.
Although Commissioner Stanley Stewart applauded the mayor’s fifth rollback and voted in favor of it, he questioned the wisdom of the cuts and banking on tourist dollars to boost tax revenue, which he equated to “rolling the dice.”
“My sincere concern is for the future administrations and commissions,” Stewart said as he read a prepared statement. “As we all know the numbers will fluctuate with trends.”
Stewart cited the poverty rate as a major concern and appealed for a local sales tax reduction on groceries, a suggestion echoed in the evening’s public comments.
“We can’t one week close libraries because we say we can’t afford them, and the very next week base our future existence on whether tourists want to come to Macon, Georgia,” Stewart said.
Miller responded to “clear up” a few things Stewart said.
“I can assure you that the penny sales tax that you see is a balanced approach to taxes as you can’t just rely on property taxes, either. Because the more you tax people, the less people you have and it puts the burden on people that have less than other people,” Miller said.
Macon-Bibb’s success with sales tax is a model for the rest of the state, he said.
The 8% sales tax collected in Macon-Bibb includes 4% state tax, and 1% each for local option, education, special purpose local option, and an other local option sales tax permitted for consolidated governments.
Stewart also cautioned against the county demolishing the Macon Coliseum to build a new arena, but he was on the bus tour in May when Miller explained that the proposed new facility would go up in the corner of the parking lot so that Coliseum could still be used and generate revenue during construction.
The mayor also explained the library on Tom Hill Sr. Boulevard closed due to challenges with that location and to allow for a new branch to open on Forsyth Road.
Miller said Stewart was violating decorum by continually talking over him as the mayor explained his taxing philosophy.
“This is not a political show for me. This is doing what’s right for our community,” Miller said. “I do think we have to be very factual and be careful of comments we make that we may not be well versed in.”
During the meeting, commissioners also agreed to hire Professional Paving Services with 2018 SPLOST funds and grant funds from the Georgia Department of Transportation to pave the first of 36.18 miles of road in the “Paving the Way” program that were put out for bid in July.
Tuesday’s agenda included approval of $230,000 in 2018 SPLOST funds for lighting at Carolyn Crayton Park, a $60,000 budget transfer for Linear Park in Pleasant Hill, $100,000 for GDOT to hire engineers to try to shave costs in a move to try to speed up the pending Bass Road widening project, and allocated over $99,000 for employee assistance services.
Macon-Bibb also accepted a $365,000 grant from Georgia’s Criminal Justice Coordinating Council for the Juvenile Justice Center.
Here are highlights from the meeting captured in social media posts.
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