Laurens County Commission defends tax increase

The Laurens County Commission defended its proposed 31 percent property tax increase at the first of three public hearings, saying the county cannot afford to keep dipping into its reserves to cover rising operating costs.

The commission wants to raise its millage rate to 7 mills, up from 5.49 mills. The tax increase would apply only to property taxes levied by the county commission and not those from county school board. The millage rate hike would be the county’s first in more than 10 years and would generate about $3.5 million in additional taxes.

Commissioners have managed to avoid tax increases but only by spending its reserves, County Administrator Bryan Rogers explained to about two dozen residents at Monday’s meeting. During the past three fiscal years, he said, the board has spent about $4 million in reserve funding to cover expenditures. 

The county has a policy of keeping in reserve about six months of operating expenses, which Rogers estimated at about $3 million a month. It has at least $20 million in the bank.

“We have a healthy fund balance right now,” Rogers said, “but that is not financially sustainable.”

What it means for your taxes

A county’s tax digest is its official list of all taxable properties and their values. When property values increase due to inflation, local governments stand to make more money, unless they reduce their millage to what is known as the rollback rate.

Laurens County’s tax digest has grown exponentially over the past five years. The digest in 2001 was $1.4 billion. The new digest for 2026 is $2.1 billion. 

Even when the county
has rolled back its millage rate, it has still seen a bump in revenue – almost $360,000 last year – from real growth in the tax digest.

“We get to keep the real growth, but not the inflationary growth,” Rogers explained.

To avoid a tax increase, the county commission would need to set its millage rate at 5.36 mills. At 7 mills, taxes levied by the commission will climb to $14.9 million, up from $11.4 million a year ago.

The new millage rate would be 30.85 percent above the rollback rate, generating about that same percentage in new revenue. Individual tax bills will increase, but not at that rate, county officials say.

The commission’s proposed rate hike will cost the owner of a $200,000 home an additional $120 a year. The county school board, which levies its own tax, is proposing a 2.8 percent hike. However, because it taxes at a rate (14 mills) that’s more than twice that of the county, that small increase would raise school taxes on the same home by about $31.

Combined, that means those county homeowners would pay about $150 more in new taxes each year.

“We only control a third of your tax bills,” Rogers told residents at the hearing. “The other two-thirds is your school taxes.”

The high cost of public safety

The county has a $34.6 million budget for fiscal year 2027, and about 60 percent is allocated public safety. 

“Public safety is our main focus,” Rogers said.

About 10 years ago, Rogers said, Laurens Countians told county officials during “listening sessions” that they wanted three things: better emergency response times, better access to emergency medical care and more sheriff patrols.

Since 2015, when the commission last raised taxes, the county has added 38 positions – with 36 of those in public safety. 

Fifteen of the new jobs are fire/medic positions that, as the name suggests, are cross-trained to serve as both firefighters and paramedics. The county Emergency Medical Service also added seven positions.

As a result, the county now has five ambulances on the road around the clock, seven days a week, with a sixth truck available and staffed by a supervisor and first responder if all other ambulances are on calls. Stationing the crews at different locations has helped reduce response times, as well.

“Providing services in Laurens County is tough. We are a large county, and then we have a river running right down the middle of it,” Rogers said.

The sheriff”s office has by far the largest budget of any county department. Since 2015, it has added nine new positions. The county has also had to raise its pay for deputies just to stay competitive with the Dublin Police Department and other sheriffs.

The sheriff’s department budget is about $10.7 million, up about $400,000 from a year ago. 

Fuel costs, competitive salaries and inmate medical expenses continue to drive up operational expenses, Rogers said before and after the hearing. The county spent more than $500,000 on inmate medical care last year. 

“Inmate medical costs have gone sky high. We have such a heavy inmate population with mental health issues. Those medications are extremely expensive. In the last several years, inmate medical has doubled.” 

The other public safety jobs added since 2015 were three positions at the 911 Center and two in the district attorney’s office.

“Every other department has either contracted or stayed the same, except for public safety,” Rogers said. “All that was added because the people wanted it.”

Two more public hearings

The county will hold two more public hearings on the tax increase on Sept. 22 – at noon and at 6 p.m. The commission then will meet at 6:30 p.m. to vote. 

Only a handful of residents spoke at the first hearing. Several asked questions or asked the commission to reconsider the proposal.

“Everybody’s pinching pennies,” one man told the board.

About $1 million in the county’s budget is for inflationary costs alone, Rogers said. Several of the commissioners said they would vote to raise taxes before cutting services.

“We’re trying to continue to render the services we’ve been providing,” Commissioner Brenda Chain said. “We’re not wasting people’s money.”

Commissioner Trae Kemp said providing public safety to rural residents is worth the expense.

“I’ve always believed a person’s life is just as important in Cedar Grove or Cadwell as it is in Dublin,” Kemp said.

In November, Laurens County voters will decide a local referendum on a new floating local option sales tax, or FLOST, that could offset the proposed tax increase – and more.

The additional penny sales tax would lower property tax rates across the county and its seven municipalities. Revenue from the tax would go directly toward lowering area property taxes for homeowners, businesses and farms. 

One resident at the public hearing asked why the commission could not hold off on raising taxes until after the referendum, but millage rates must be set so that tax digest can be finalized.

If the FLOST passes, it could take effect in January, and county officials expect the money collected over the final six months of fiscal year 2027, which ends in July, to essentially offset the tax increase.