Gwinnett to roll back millage rate

Gwinnett residents will get a little bit of relief on their property tax bills this year.

The county commission approved a lower millage rate for property taxes for 2015, a 2.3 percent decrease from the 2014 rate for the general fund.

The rollback means a resident who paid $592 dollars in property taxes to the general fund last year (the taxes on a $200,000 house, assuming no exemptions and an unchanged value) would pay $578.32 this year, saving $13.68.

The total general fund millage is 7.229 mills. A mill is one dollar of tax for every $1,000 of assessed property value. The county taxes based on 40 percent of the total assessed value.

The rates for all special service districts will be unchanged. The school millage rate is 21.8 mills.

The general fund rollback will mean the county expects to collect the same total revenue in 2015 in the general fund as it did in 2014. Rising property values and new construction will make up the difference in the millage rate.

Maria Woods, the county’s chief financial officer, said the actual change on tax bills would depend on whether an individual’s home value went up or down. Even if values rose, she said, the rollback means homeowners will have a smaller amount of taxes to pay.

In a statement, commission chairman Charlotte Nash said she was pleased that the county could decrease the millage rate and continue to maintain a balanced budget.

The county kept its millage rate the same in 2014, which allowed Gwinnett to bring in an additional $20 million in property tax revenue, as home values rose. In 2013, the county collected $345.5 million from property taxes.

Gwinnett is still collecting less than it did in 2009, when tax collections were the highest.