Monroe County Commissioners approved by a 4-0 vote in a special called meeting on Friday, Aug. 23 to reduce the county’s millage rate by 1.2008 mills in 2024.
At the recommendation of County Manager Jim Hedges and County Finance Director Lorri Robinson-Byrd, Commissioners approved setting the 2024 millage rate at 10.803 mills, a 1.2008-mill reduction from the 2023 millage rate of 12.004 mills.
It is the seventh consecutive year that Monroe County Commissioners have either maintained the same millage rate or lowered the millage rate.
The new millage rate will generate a total of $18,252,734 in property taxes in 2024, a decrease of $307,054 (or 1.65 percent) from 2023.
Under the new millage, a Monroe County homeowner with a home valued at $300,000 and a Homestead Exemption will pay $1,166 in county property taxes for 2024, a reduction of $130 from the $1,296 the same homeowner paid in 2023. The only way that a homeowner would pay more in county property taxes in 2024 than he/she did in 2023 is if the homeowner’s valuation has risen due to reassessment.
No citizens were in attendance at Friday’s called meeting.
District 1 Commissioner Lamarcus Davis immediately motioned to approve a 2024 millage of 10.803 mills, which was seconded by District 3 Commissioner John Ambrose and approved 4-0. District 4 Commissioner George Emami was absent from Friday’s meeting.
Commission Chairman Greg Tapley said of Friday’s millage rate reduction: “This millage rate that we’ve set today is the seventh year we’ve either kept the millage rate the same or lowered it. It is the culmination of the right mentality, vision that we’ve had to bring in good people, Jim Hedges, Lorri Robinson-Byrd, to help us manage the details of the finances. It’s been the right thing to do not to micromanage. It’s very disappointing that this probably won’t end up on the front page of the paper. The good things we do don’t get reported properly at all. But at least the folks at home on Facebook, maybe if you’ll share it, let some folks know that your county commissioners are up here looking out and trying to be good financial stewards with the help of the staff that we’ve hired. I think it’s the product of eight years, seven-and-a-half years, that all of us have been here to keep doing this type of work for the community.”
