Your tax rate and the rollback rate
How Milton works · Lesson 5
Every year Council sets the city’s property tax rate, in mills. Three ideas make sense of it: the mill, assessed value and the rollback rate.
A mill
One mill is $1 of tax for every $1,000 of a property’s assessed value. Milton’s operating rate for 2026 is 4.193 mills; with the bond rate added, the city’s total is 4.502. Fulton County and Fulton County Schools set their own rates on the same bill.
Assessed value
Georgia taxes 40 percent of a property’s appraised value. That 40 percent is the assessed value. Exemptions, like the homestead exemption, come off after that, and what’s left is taxable.
An example, before exemptions: a home appraised at $1,000,000 has an assessed value of $400,000. At 4.193 mills, the city operating tax is $400,000 ÷ 1,000 × 4.193 = $1,677.20.
The rollback rate
When property values rise, the same rate brings in more money. The rollback rate is the rate that would bring in about the same money from existing property as last year. Set the rate above it, and state law treats it as a tax increase: three public hearings, a published notice and a press release (O.C.G.A. 48-5-32.1).
What it looked like in 2026
On Oct. 19, 2026, Council considered an operating rate of 4.193 mills, unchanged and under the 4.205 rollback rate, so the three-hearing rule didn’t apply. Because the tax digest grew, the city’s own table still shows operating taxes up $367,792, about 2 percent. A flat rate isn’t the same as a flat bill.
What to ask
- Is the rate above or below rollback? That decides whether the hearings are required.
- How much more money does it raise, and how much of that is new construction?
- What does it mean for your house? Take your appraisal from your assessment notice, multiply by 0.4, divide by 1,000 and multiply by the rate.
Quick check
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One mill of property tax equals:
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In Georgia, a home's assessed value is what share of its appraised value?
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Council sets the rate above the rollback rate. What does state law require?
