No increase in Augusta property tax rates planned

Most property owners won't see a property tax increase as the Augusta Commission is poised to adopt the "rollback" millage rate, meaning some homeowners may see a small decrease in city property taxes.

Augusta's five-year digest history showed the city added some $434 million in new property or increased-value property since 2019. The increases included $447 million in taxable real and personal property but a loss of $13.6 million in taxable motor vehicles. The vehicle taxes have steadily declined since the state abolished the annual vehicle tax.

Countywide, the recommended tax rate is 9.04 mills, a decrease of about 6% from 2019. The mill rate is applied to each thousand of a property's taxable value, which is 40% of its value assigned by the Richmond County Tax Assessor.

Augusta uses a 1% local option sales tax to offset property taxes. The LOST reduces the tax rate from 15.5 mills by 6.47 mills.

Under the proposed new rate, city taxes on a $100,000 house will decrease by around $25.

Property tax collections aren't taking a hit from COVID-19, but sales taxes are. Finance Director Donna Williams earlier said as of April, the taxes were down around $2 million over 2019, but the loss was expected to be aided by a rescheduled Masters Tournament in November.

Augusta taxes are distinct from the millage charged by Richmond County Board of Education.

Property owners are currently billed 19.79 mills on a property's assessed value for school system operations.

Commissioner Brandon Garrett said he supports adopting the rollback rate.

"Rolling back millage keeps taxes lower for our constituents," Garrett said.