Habersham commissioners lower school tax rate in 3-1 vote

Habersham County commissioners voted 3-1 at a special-called meeting Aug. 27, 2025, to set the Habersham County Schools millage rate at 9.122 mills and adopt the related 2025 tax levy resolution. The vote also authorized the board chairman to execute the resolution, three PT-35 forms and other documents needed to transmit the tax digest to the state.

The decision matters because the school millage rate is a component of county property-tax bills, affecting homeowners and other property owners while helping determine tax-supported revenue for the school system. Meeting materials listed the new school rate below the 10.354 mills listed for 2024, a reduction of 1.232 mills in the rate itself.

The Aug. 27 action combined two linked steps: commissioners approved the school rate and adopted the 2025 levy resolution that supports putting that rate into effect. The meeting record separately repeats the adoption of the 9.122-mill rate and levy resolution, but describes the same action rather than a second vote or a later change.

For property owners, the lower listed millage rate is directly relevant to the tax calculation on taxable property. For Habersham County Schools, the rate is part of the local tax framework supporting its finances. The commission’s recorded 3-1 split shows that the measure had dissent, but the meeting record provided does not identify the dissenting commissioner or state the competing arguments.

The rate approval and adoption of the levy resolution were completed board actions, not proposals, and the chairman was authorized to sign the specified documents. That authorization does not show that the resolution was signed or that the PT-35 and related transmittal documents were filed. A separate county-budget proceeding reported for 2026 does not establish any amendment to the 2025 school rate.

The next public confirmation would be a record showing execution of the 2025 Tax Year Levy Resolution and transmission of the PT-35 and related tax-digest paperwork. Until such documentation appears, it remains unresolved whether the authorized administrative work was completed and whether any later action altered the approved 9.122-mill school rate.