Concerned citizens outraged over proposed property tax increase

The Consolidated Government of Columbus, Georgia, has announced its intention to increase the 2026 property taxes it will levy this year over the rollback millage rate. These are the impacted tax districts and the proposed increases: Urban Services District #1, #5, #6, and #7 at 2.00 percent and Urban Services District #2 at 4.50 percent.

When the total digest of taxable property is prepared, Georgia Law requires that a rollback millage rate must be computed that will produce the same total revenue on the current year’s digest that last year’s millage rate would have produced had no reassessments occurred. The budget tentatively adopted by the Columbus Consolidated Government requires a millage rate higher than the rollback millage rate, therefore, before the Columbus Consolidated Government may finalize the tentative budget and set a final millage rate, Georgia law requires three public hearings to be held to allow the public an opportunity to express their opinions on the increase.

Pushback for the proposal has been strong on social media, especially from members of the Columbus, GA Concerned Citizens forum. Their biggest concern is for Senior citizens, working class families, and renters:

If you are on Social Security, a pension, or a fixed income, your check does not go up because the tax digest went up. Every dollar increase comes directly out of grocery money, medicine money, and utility money. There is no offset for you.

Working class families are already stretching a paycheck in a city with a 22% poverty rate that is rising while the rest of Georgia improves. This increase does not care about your hours being cut or your rent going up. It just shows up on the bill.

Renters may think this does not affect you because you do not own property. You are wrong. Landlords do not absorb property tax increases. They pass them directly into your rent.

All concerned citizens are invited to the public hearing on this tax increase to be held in the Council Chambers on the second level of the City Services Center, 3111 Citizens Way, in Columbus, on June 2, at 9:00 a.m. and 6:00 p.m., and June 9 at 9:00 a.m.