The Oconee County Board of Commissioners is scheduled on Tuesday (July 28) to hold its first public hearing on its proposed property tax rates for 2026, which will produce an increase of $788,134 in new revenue, or a gain of 4.95 percent from last year.
The proposed millage rate for the majority of county properties–those in the unincorporated parts of the county–is slightly lower than it was in 2025.
The rate for those properties within the boundaries of the county’s four cities is unchanged from last year.
The proposed millage rate in the unincorporated parts of the county is below the rollback rate–the rate that offsets inflationary growth in properties resulting simply from reassessment of unchanged properties.
The proposed millage rate for the incorporated parts of the county is 3.41 percent above the rollback rate, necessitating three public hearings before the Board can adopt the rates.
Board of Commissioners Chair John Daniell announced the proposed millage rates at the Board’s regular meeting on July 7 and scheduled the hearings for 6 p.m. on July 28, on Aug. 4, 2026, and on Aug. 25 at the Oconee County Administration Building, 7635 Macon Highway, north of Watkinsville.
Also at the meeting on July 7, three residents of Lane Creek Plantation subdivision complained of speeding on Lane Creek Drive, the only road into and out of the subdivision, and asked the county to help find a way to address the problem.
The Board also approved four zoning requests, including one that removed from an approved concept plan a hotel and replaced it with medical office buildings.
Millage Rates
The required legal announcement of the millage rates appeared in the July 16 and July 23 editions of the county’s legal organ, The Oconee Enterprise, listing the 4.95 percent increase in property tax revenue resulting from the new millage rates that are proposed to go into effect before property taxes are due in November.
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| Daniell 6/16/2026 |
The figure simply reflects the fact that the $16.7 million in taxes to be collected is an increase of 4.95 percent over the $15.9 million that the millage rates adopted last year produced.
In 2025, the county actually collected 2.22 percent less in tax revenue that the year before.
Tax revenue increased 1.22 percent in 2024, declined 5.52 percent in 2023, increased 3.40 percent in 2022, and increased 5.08 percent in 2021.
The table in the paper also shows the Maintenance and Operation Millage rate for both the unincorporated and incorporated parts of the county going back to 2021.
The proposed 2026 millage rate for the unincorporated parts of the county is 4.124, down from the 4.1840 last year.
Not shown in the table is the rollback rate of 4.157 for the unincorporated parts of the county, computed by Oconee County Tax Commissioner Jennifer Riddle.
The proposed millage rate of 4.124 is a decrease of 0.79 percent from that rollback rate, or the rate that is necessary to eliminate revenue that results solely from the reassessment of unchanged properties.
The proposed millage rate for the incorporated parts of the county–the parts falling within the city limits of Watkinsville, Bogart, North High Shoals, and Bishop–is 5.154, the same as a year ago..
The rollback rate for the incorporated parts of the county is 4.984 however, or 0.17 mills lower than the proposed rate of 5.154 mills, according to the documents produced by Tax Commissioner Riddle.
That 0.17 difference between the proposed millage rate for the incorporated parts of the county and the rollback rate is an increase of 3.41 percent, labeled as a tax increase and necessitating the public hearings that will be begin on Tuesday.
Tax Digest Growth
The Tax Digest, or value of property, for the unincorporated parts of the county increased from $3.3 billion in 2025 to $3.5 billion in 2026, according to Riddle’s calculations, summarized by Daniell at the July 7 meeting.
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| Tax Digest As Published (Click To Enlarge) |
Of that amount, $175.9 million reflected real growth resulting from change in the value of the property due to new uses or additions to existing structures rather than from simple reassessment of unchanged property.
The Tax Digest for the incorporated parts of the county grew from $391.8 million in 2025 to $424.6 million in 2026, with $18.8 million of that real rather than inflationary (simple reassessment) growth.
The Total Tax Digest for the county increased from $3.7 billion in 2025 to $3.9 billion in 2026.
Daniell, in an email message on Friday (July 24), said that in the initial budget preparation “We planned for no change in the millage rate” both for the unincorporated and incorporated parts of the county.
“Based on the required method, in order to keep incorporated the same we are required to drop unincorporated,” he said. “We would prefer to drop both rates to the rollback rate but that is not possible.”
“If we dropped incorporated to rollback (rate) we would have to reduce unincorporated to a rate below our budgeted income and pass on a majority of the real growth of the digest.”
By “pass on” Daniell means not tax the real growth in the digest, which is concentrated in the unincorporated parts of the county ($175.9 million in the unincorporated parts of the county versus $18.8 million in the incorporated parts of the county.)
Difference Between Incorporated And Unincorporated Rate
The Gross Maintenance and Operation Millage Rate for the incorporated and unincorporated parts of the county is the same, as Daniell said at the meeting on July 7 and as is reflected in the table published in the Enterprise.
That beginning rate, 8.164 mills, is rolled back by 4.04 mills in the unincorporated parts of the county as a condition of the county collecting a 1 percent Local Option Sales Tax and to reflects monies the county receives from state from collection of the insurance premium tax.
The rate of 8.164 is rolled back in the cities by 3.01 mills because of the LOST collections. The state pays the insurance premium tax for the cities to the cities rather than to the county, so there is no rollback in the county tax rate for the cities due to the insurance premium.
Each of the cities also sets its own additional millage rate to cover city services.
The rates for the unincorporated and incorporated parts of the county that Daniell is recommending the Board adopt in August will generate the additional property taxes in 2026 of $788,124 over 2025, Daniell said, reflecting the figure in the published table, or the increase of 4.95 percent over a year earlier.
The proposed General Fund Budget for the county for Fiscal Year 2027 includes $3.3 million in new spending, including $1.6 million for initiation of a county EMS program.
The approved budget shows an expected increase of $400,000 in property tax receipts.
The Oconee County Board of Education has not set its millage rate for 2026 for Oconee County Schools, but the School Board has approved a tentative budget for Fiscal Year 2027 based on a millage rate of 13.836, which is projected to be the rollback rate.
If that rate is adopted, 77.0 percent of the total millage rate of 17.96 for the unincorporated parts of the county would be for Oconee County Schools, while 72.9 percent of the total millage rate of 18.99 for the county in the incorporated parts of the county would be for Oconee County Schools.
Citizen Comment
The first of the three speakers to come forward at the beginning of the July 7 meeting when Daniell called for public comment was Jolene Gilbert. The discussion continued for more than 15 minutes.
“We are experiencing a terrible problem with the driving and speeding in Lane Creek,” Gilbert said.
The subdivision has more than 300 houses, with only one entry and exit, and with no sidewalks, she said. “We are crying out for some help,” she added.
“This has been a problem since we moved there 20 years ago last month,” Tom Golden said.
“It's just gotten outrageous,” he added. “The kids have gotten older now. They’re driving age. The parents give them the cars.”
“Commercial trucks coming in and out, the garbage trucks, like Jolene said, it's hard to even stay in your front yard,” Golden said.
“Gentlemen, we need relief. Please,” he said. “Try the speed humps. We put the signs up telling them how fast they were going. As soon as they came down, guess what happened? They don't even hit their brakes.”
D. J. Butler, representing the Home Owners Association, said “We're asking for help with a serious and growing traffic safety issue inside our neighborhood.”
“Our residents, children, walkers, golf carts, pets, and families are sharing the same roadway with these vehicles,” he said.
“We're respectfully asking the county to work with us on an effective traffic calming measures, including speed tables, raised crosswalks, additional signage, or any other proven method that will physically slow vehicles down in the neighborhood.”
Daniell told the group that County Administrator Justin Kirouac “has been working on a Traffic Calming Policy” for the county.
“Speed bumps are not allowed on county right away for a multitude of reasons,” Daniell said. “But there are some other avenues that are available.”
Rezone Decisions
At the meeting on July 7, the Board, with very little discussion, unanimously approved four zoning request.
The Board agree to modify the conditions of an existing rezone for 14.4 acres at 1660 Plaza Parkway to eliminate a proposed hotel and replace it with medical buildings.
The Board also approved modifications to a rezone of 0.25 acres at 2053 Experiment Station Road to allow a community church in the business park off Experiment Station Road next to the Publix in Butler’s Crossing.
The Board agreed to modify the conditions of an existing special use for 21.7 acres at 1150 Malcom Bridge Road for construction of Grace Fellowship Church.
The Board approved a request by Chip Patterson to reduce the required setbacks for an accessory private recreational facility 0.8 acres at 2759 Allegheny Lane.
Video
The embedded video below is on the county YouTube Channel.
I was unable to attend the meeting on July 7, so the county video is the only video record of the meeting.
The meeting begins at 6:02 in the county video.
Citizens from Lane Creek Plantation began speaking at 7:06 in the video.
Daniell made his comments about the Tax Digest and millage rates at 23:39 in the video.
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