Chattahoochee Hills cut its tax rate in 2024, but projected a larger levy

Chattahoochee Hills cut its city property-tax rate from 9 to 8.2 mills on August 6, 2024, but the notice accompanying the ordinance anticipated a larger levy. Its Fulton County table showed $3.57 million for 2024, up from $3.27 million in 2023—a 9% increase.

The explanation was in the taxable base. After exemptions, the Fulton table showed it rising from $363.46 million to $435.04 million, roughly 20%. The lower rate applied to a substantially larger amount of taxable property, producing a higher total levy.

The city’s much smaller Coweta County levy also increased in the notice, from $4,810 to $18,556. The table reported that increase as 286%. The adopted ordinance directed the tax to general-government purposes.

For an unchanged taxable value, the rate cut meant a lower charge. The notice estimated a $128 reduction for a non-homesteaded property worth $400,000. That illustrates why a lower rate and a larger citywide levy can coexist: the rate determines the charge on each dollar of taxable value, while the total also depends on the size of the tax base. The published levy figures were not a report of cash collected.