VALDOSTA — After the Valdosta City Council voted down a motion to increase property taxes Thursday, council approved a motion to lower the millage rate to 7.916.

The vote came after multiple public hearings to increase property taxes by keeping the millage rate of 8.001 from last year. 

The approved 7.916 millage rate is not a tax decrease, however. It means taxes for everyone in the city will remain about the same.

At the third and final public hearing, City Council was divided as three separate motions were proposed for three different millage rates.

It began with a motion from Councilman Joseph “Sonny” Vickers to approve the tentative millage rate of 8.001. That motion failed.

Then, Councilman Eric Howard proposed increasing the millage rate so the city would not have a deficit. A millage rate of 8.001 would leave the city short $164,000. Howard and Councilman Andy Gibbs were in favor of increasing the millage enough to balance the budget and get rid of the deficit.

This motion also failed.

Councilman Tim Carroll proposed decreasing the millage rate to the rollback rate of 7.916, which is the recommended rate after assessments grew by 2.72 percent and would mean no tax increase for any resident.

With a vote of four to three, Carroll’s motion passed with Vickers, Gibbs and Howard voting against the motion.

“I hope that the message goes out to the citizens that we hear them,” Carroll said.

At each of the three public hearings, residents spoke against the proposed tax increase.

The new millage rate means the city will lose $286,000 in revenue and will need to make larger cuts to the proposed 2018-19 city budget.

Thomas Lynn is a government and education reporter for The Valdosta Daily Times. He can be reached at (229)244-3400 ext. 1256