Property owners pack the Wilco courtroom for millage rate debate

Roughly 160 citizens crammed into the gallery of the “big courtroom” at the Wilkinson County Courthouse last Friday morning, property taxes the primary topic.

It was standing room on one side of the rail, while on the other side, where the defendant and the defendant’s lawyers typically sit, a group of school board members and county commissioners congregated. Board of Commissioners Chairman Tony Bentley, on the job for all of four months, led the meeting, which was advertised as a “millage rate meeting.” Bentley encouraged the crowd to stay on topic and not discuss their own property assessments and to avoid questions about the assessment process.

“It looks like (property valuations) are going up considerably, so let’s come together and agree that we will roll back (the millage rate) to try to reflect what your taxes looked like last year,” Bentley told the crowd.

Wilkinson County’s new tax digest won’t be released for another month, at the least, although it’s anticipated that many valuations will increase “by double or better,” according to Bentley. Without a reduction in the county government’s millage rate and/or the school district’s millage rate, the increase in property valuations would lead to “skyrocketing (property) taxes,” added Bentley. 

The “county” millage rate currently is 14.344 mills, while the “school” millage rate is 19.681.

So, with this in mind, school board members and county commissioners talked amongst themselves for roughly seven minutes. When the microphone was turned back on, Bentley informed the crowd that school board members and county commissioners “are in agreement that we would roll back the millage rates.”

Bentley promised the crowd on several more occasions that the county commission would reduce its millage rate, while Superintendent Angela James was asked by an audience member if the Board of Education “could make that same commitment.”

“We are making a commitment that we will do that, because we do understand the burden that taxpayers are paying. We commiserate with that, and we understand that,” she said. “We do make that commitment that we will roll back.”

Many in the crowd cheered and applauded.

To what extent county commissioners and school board members ultimately will reduce the millage rates is to be determined. 

“I’m not saying that your taxes are not gonna go up, because the cost of operation is the cost of operation,” Bentley told the crowd. “But, you should not double your taxes…I do understand, and the Board of Education understands, that we have a lot of retired people and people living on fixed incomes who cannot afford their taxes to double.”

As the meeting approached the one-hour mark, after many people had already left, the questions and comments from the crowd began to meander, with topics including overgrown muscadine vines and the need for more hamburger restaurants and fewer new school buses in Wilkinson County.

Bentley quickly “thanked the crowd for coming” and adjourned the meeting.