County also getting in on millage hike parade

By Sherri EllingtonThe Lamar County commission plans to set its millage rate at a hearing set for 6 p.m. Aug. 19, an hour before the regular meeting. Plans are to set it at the rollback rate of 10.512, which will bring in $4,881,131 in property taxes for the 2015 fiscal year. This is actually less than the 10.481 millage.It brought in $4,968,530 in 2014. The change is due to a 1.76% drop in tax revenues thanks to a drastic drop in the tax digest. After adjustments including homestead exemptions, the tax digest dropped from a net of $474,051,144 to $464,338,992. This is a change of $87,399 less than the prior year’s income. This year’s exemptions, including the new school exemption for homeowners over age 70, were $106,328,438.The state Forest Land Assistance Grant is $2,318,456. This comes out of a gross digest of $568,348,974. That was down from 2013 values of $576,853,425.