Mt. Airy approves 4.5-mill property tax rate

MOUNT AIRY, Ga. — The Mt. Airy Town Council approved a 4.5-mill property tax rate for 2026 during its meeting Monday night and plans to set Jan. 30 as the deadline for property tax payments.

Mayor Adam Tullis said the town intends to request the January deadline when the tax bills are processed.

“We want to set the due date for January 30 because nobody likes for property taxes to be due in December,” Tullis said.

Tullis said the town must provide taxpayers with at least 60 days from the time the bills are mailed to make payment.

City Clerk Sheri Berrong said the required millage-rate paperwork will be submitted following the council’s approval. She said processing and mailing the bills typically takes two to four weeks. The town’s website has posted a 2026 notice of tax increase along with the current levy and five-year history.

The 4.5-mill rate also is the rate used for Mt. Airy in Habersham County’s current analysis of the proposed Property Tax Relief Local Option Sales Tax, or PTRLOST.

If approved by voters Nov. 3, PTRLOST would impose a new 1% sales tax beginning Jan. 1, 2027, with revenue used to reduce property-tax millage rates for participating governments. The county’s consultant projects a 3.608-mill reduction for Mt. Airy, which would bring the projected rate from 4.5 mills to 0.892 mills.

That reduction would not take effect immediately. The county says the first full year of PTRLOST collections would be 2027, with the revenue applied during the 2028 millage-setting process. The 2028 tax year would therefore be the first full property-tax year reflecting the projected reduction.

The county’s analysis projects Mt. Airy would receive approximately $203,371 annually in PTRLOST revenue, representing a projected 1.92% share of the countywide collections. The figures are projections and would depend on actual sales-tax collections and future tax-digest changes.

Other town business

During the department reports, Police Chief Jamie Bowden reported approximately 45 calls for service in September and 13 extra patrols. Officers also addressed code-related issues in the area.

Bowden said the department is scheduled to assist with an event at the fairgrounds this month and participate in the Trumpet Creek event Oct. 17. He said November and December are expected to be busy months for the department.

Berrong also updated the council on an ongoing project, saying representatives are expected to come to town within the next two to three weeks to begin pulling samples. She said she hopes the project will be completed by the end of November, ahead of a December deadline.

The town also needs to select a project for its 2027 Local Maintenance and Improvement Grant application, which Berrong said must be submitted by February. Wilson Road has been the town’s LMIG project in recent years, but that work is now complete.

Berrong said once the town receives and pays the county’s bill for the Wilson Road paving, she can submit the completed project to the Georgia Department of Transportation. Any remaining funds may be eligible to be placed in escrow for another project, pending GDOT approval.