Tallulah Falls’ proposed tax increase still lacks a documented final vote

Tallulah Falls moved into public hearings last fall on a 2025 property-tax plan that, according to Now Georgia, would retain the town’s 6.000-mill rate rather than lower it to the 5.855-mill rollback rate after higher property appraisals. The first hearing was held Sept. 25 at City Hall, with additional hearings scheduled for Oct. 2 and Oct. 9, but the official material tied to the proposal does not show whether town officials ultimately adopted that plan.

The unresolved decision matters because residents’ bills can rise even when the millage number stays flat. A rollback rate is designed to account for reassessment-driven growth in taxable value; keeping a higher existing rate can generate more property-tax revenue. Now Georgia reported the town described the proposed result as a 2.48 percent tax increase driven by appraisals, not an increase in the millage rate itself.

The 2025 proposal followed a recurring annual process in which Tallulah Falls placed property-tax calculations before officials. In August 2022, the town scheduled a public hearing and work session on a proposed rate using digest, reassessment and rollback calculations. A year later, officials considered a proposed 6.473-mill rate, based on a net digest of $18.6 million that included reassessed value and other taxable-digest changes. The Sept. 11, 2025 agenda again put a proposed rate and those same calculation concepts before town officials, setting up the later hearing process reported by Now Georgia.

For homeowners and other property owners, the central question is whether rising assessments translated into higher payments. Now Georgia reported that, under the proposal, a home with a $300,000 fair-market value would see about $17.40 more in taxes and a $150,000 nonhomestead property about $8.70 more. The town’s reported position was to maintain 6.000 mills instead of adopting the 5.855-mill rollback figure; the official agenda packet confirms that digest, reassessment and rollback calculations were part of the matter placed before officials, but does not record individual officials’ views or public comments.

What is established is that Tallulah Falls considered a 2025 millage-rate proposal and, as Now Georgia reported, began a hearing sequence around retaining the 6.000-mill rate. What remains unestablished in the official agenda record is the decisive act: whether the governing body adopted, amended or rejected the proposal; what final rate took effect; and what final effect it had on collections or individual bills. The earlier 2022 and 2023 materials likewise document proposed rates and consideration, not final adoption.

The next public step is a town record that states what officials did with the 2025 proposal. Until Tallulah Falls documents an implementation, revision or rejection, residents cannot confirm whether the reported 6.000-mill plan governed their bills, whether the rollback calculation changed the final decision, or how much additional property-tax revenue the town ultimately collected.