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My lender friend Cyndi shared a good tip with me earlier this week: Property Taxes in Columbia County as a general rule of thumb end of being a little over 1% of the value of your home. For example, in Columbia account, the average sales price is $330,000, which means you would anticipate paying a little over $3,300 in taxes. This is not precise, but does put you in the ball park.
MATH TIME
To determine the amount of your property taxes, several values are needed. These values are the Fair Market Value (FMV), Assessed Value (ASV), and the Millage Rate. The Millage rate is determined by the proposed budget divided by the tax digest. The Millage Rate is defined as dollars per $1,000.00 of assessed value.
2022 Millage Rate: 0.025968
Fair Market Value (FMV) X 40%=Assessed Value
Assessed Value (ASV) X Millage = Tax
Tax digest = Total of all Assessments
Millage Rate = Proposed Budget divided by Tax digest
Millage is usually expressed as dollars per $1,000.00 of Assessed Value
Example: In 2022, the County millage rate was set at .025968. The ASV of property with a FMV of $330,000 would be 40%, or $132,000. Multiply the ASV of $40,000 by the millage rate of .025968 to get a close estimate of the property tax amount. In this example, property tax would be approximately $3,427.78.
So what all does this tax comprise of? A portion of it goes to the county, to schools, to fire department, etc. And you know which piece takes the largest portion of our taxes...you guessed it, our schools!
TAX EXEMPTIONS
Did you know that there are tax exemptions available for families? There is a small one if the home is your primary residence as well as larger cuts for senior citizens and disabled veterans. All you need to do is APPLY!
To find out more for exemptions in Columbia County: https://tax.columbiacountyga.gov/property-tax-division/tax-exemptions
If you want to know the precise calculation of your home: https://tax.columbiacountyga.gov/property-tax-division/tax-info/tax-calculation-worksheet