The Bartow County Commissioner has proposed no change to the millage rates for 2025.
The proposed millage rate for incorporated areas remains 7.40 and for unincorporated
areas remains 6.87, the same rates as set in 2024. State law requires this to be
advertised as a tax increase since the state measures change not against the actual prior year millage rate, but rather against the “rollback rate.” The rollback rate is calculated by
subtracting any increase in the digest due to reassessment.
However, this year also marks the first year of the floating state-wide homestead
exemption, implemented by HB 581. For homestead properties, any increase was rolled
back by the floating homestead exemption. In addition, the Commissioner requested a
bill, which the voters approved, to increase the standard homestead exemption from
$10,000 net assessed value to $15,000. Therefore, all homestead property net assessed
values should be reduced by $5,000 in 2025 compared to 2024 and everyone should see
their county taxes decrease. The overall digest did increase due to new growth and
reassessments of industrial, commercial, and non-homestead residential property.
As an example of the floating homestead, consider a property valued at $300,000 in 2024
and reassessed at $330,000 for 2025. If the property owner had no other special
homestead exemptions (disability, etc), their standard homestead exemption in 2024 was
$10,000, which comes off the assessed value. Their 40% assessed value would have
been $120,000 but their net taxable value would have been $110,000. In 2025, the
floating homestead would have equaled 40% of the $30,000 increase, or $12,000; and
their standard homestead has increased to $15,000 because the local law was changed.
Therefore, while their initial 40% assessed value has increased to $132,000, their two
combined floating and standard homesteads equal $27,000 and their net taxable value is
reduced to $105,000 for this year. The county portion of the tax bill will be lower than
2024. Anyone can look on the Tax Assessors database (www.qpublic.net/ga/bartow/)
and compare their homestead exemption for 2024 and for 2025 to see the effect of the
combination of the increase in the standard homestead exemption and the floating
homestead exemption.
All concerned citizens are invited to attend the public hearings on the millage rates to be
held in the Commissioner’s Conference Room, located at 135 W. Cherokee Avenue,
Cartersville, Georgia 30120 on July 24, 2025 at 10:00 a.m. and 6:00 p.m. and on July 31,
2025 at 9:30 a.m.

PRESS RELEASE