Holly Springs Sets Millage Rate for FY 2025

Holly Springs leaders have approved an increased millage rate of 4 mills, which will lead to an increase in property taxes.

The Holly Springs City Council unanimously voted Aug. 19 to set the millage rate at 4 mills. Last year, the city council set the millage rate at 3.841 mills, the same as the previous year.

This maintenance and operations millage rate will increase property taxes levied by 4.85% over the rollback rate of 3.815 mills.

Per Georgia law, the "rollback" rate is the rate that would produce the same total revenue on the current year’s digest that last year’s millage rate would have produced had no reassessment of property values occurred.

With this approved millage rate, Holly Springs is expected to collect $4,357,527 in total tax revenue in 2024 — $201,536 more than the rollback rate.

According to the city, for a property with a fair market value of $487,500 and an assessed value of $195,000, the rate will result in a $36.08 property tax increase over the rollback rate.

The millage rate will generate an additional $5.74 for a home with a senior tax exemption. The senior tax exemption in the city of Holly Springs provides an exemption from property tax up to $409,900 of fair market value for seniors 62 years of age and older, Holly Springs City Manager Rob Logan said.

Cherokee County approved a fire millage rate of 2.888 mills in July - that will make for a total of 6.888 mills that city residents will see on tax bills this year, according to the city.

No residents spoke during the 11 a.m. and 6:30 p.m. public hearings held Aug. 19.

On Aug. 5, Holly Springs resident Graylon Haynie asked elected officials why the increase is needed.

"Things are more expensive," Mayor Steven Miller said, adding that, if the city were to adopt the rollback millage rate, the projected tax revenue would not be sufficient to cover anticipated expenditures in the city’s general fund.

The city’s Financial Management Policy requires the establishment of a fund balance reserve in an amount no less than three months of operating and debt service expenditures, Logan said. This fund balance reserve amounts to 25% of the city’s annual expenditures in the general fund.

Councilmember Michael Zenchuk said Aug. 19 that part of the increase in the millage rate can also be attributed to inflation.

“We’ve looked to cut as much as we could without having to get into people," Councilmember Dee Phillips said.

The Holly Springs City Council is expected to adopt the city's annual budget in November, Logan said.