Habersham Co. Board of Commissioners approves Millage and Budget allowing Full Rollback

The Habersham County Board of Commissioners approved the FY 2025 budget at a July 22 special called meeting. The FY 2025 budget includes a full rollback of the General Fund millage rate, a 4% compensation adjustment for employees, and the addition of several necessary positions to maintain essential services. Positions approved include six firefighters, three facilities maintenance technicians, one parks maintenance worker, two information technology positions, and two part-time animal shelter technicians. The proposed $39.17 million general fund budget is funded by three revenue streams: approximately 57% from property tax, 19% other taxes, and 24% from grants, service fees, fines, and payments. “We realize times are hard for many people right now, and we have worked to find ways to offer a full millage rollback,” said Habersham County Commission Chairman Ty Akins. “Our citizens have been vocal with their concerns, and we take those concerns seriously and have done our best to hold the line on new spending as much as possible while balancing the demands of a growing county and maintaining the levels of service.” The general fund maintenance and operations millage approved is 11.771 mills, while the hospital debt fund (bond annual payment) is 0.757 mills, and the emergency services millage is 1.275 mills, for an overall county decrease of 0.845 mills. “I want to thank everyone involved in the lengthy process,” Chief Financial Officer Tim Sims said, “from the Commissioners, who continue to work together to come to agreements and move important initiatives forward, to staff, who invested months of hard work to ensure we could roll back the millage rate and present a financially conservative budget to the citizens of Habersham County.”

Where does my tax dollar go?

For residents who live outside city limits in Habersham County, 53.01% of each tax dollar goes to the Habersham County School System, 40.07% goes to the Habersham County Government General Fund, 4.34% goes to fund Habersham County Emergency Services, and 2.58% funds the hospital debt fund to pay the bond payment. The Habersham County Board of Education voted to keep its millage rate the same this year, at 10.354 mills, bringing the total overall county millage to 24.157, down from 25.002 last year, which represents an overall countywide decrease of 0.845 mills.

Where does my county government dollar go?

Of the 40.07% of unincorporated residents’ tax dollar that goes to the Habersham County General Fund, the breakdown is as follows: 

16.21% public safety

8.98% general government

4.96% judicial

3.64% public works

2.10% recreation and culture

1.79% capital improvement plan

1.37% housing and development

0.59% health and welfare

0.42% debt service