The Effingham County Board of Commissioners announces its intention to increase the property taxes it will levy on behalf of the Effingham County Hospital Authority this year by 7.90 percent over the rollback millage rate.  The current millage rate for the Hospital Authority is 1.977, the rollback millage rate is 2.178, and the proposed millage is 2.35.

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 proposed by commissioners does not require a millage rate higher than the rollback millage rate.

However, Georgia law requires three public hearings to be held for any increase above the rollback millage rate levied by the board of commissioners on behalf of any entity to allow the public an opportunity to express their opinions on the increase.

As part of a 2010 agreement for the commissioners’ support of the hospital’s modernization, the hospital authority was guaranteed no less than $3.6 million in property tax each year.

All concerned citizens are invited to the public hearings on this tax increase for the Effingham County Hospital Authority to be held at the Administrative Complex, 601 N. Laurel St. in Springfield on July 17 at 6:30 p.m. and July 26 at 10 a.m. and 5 p.m.