The Blairsville City Council and Mayor Buddy Moore held a called meeting on Thursday, Oct. 1, inside City Hall to conduct a first reading of the city’s 2026 Millage Rate Ordinance.
Because the city adopts its property tax rate via ordinance, the council must meet twice to do so, and the second reading and subsequent enactment of the ordinance will be on Tuesday, Oct. 13, at 6 p.m.
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Blairsville recently advertised a 2026 rollback rate of 1.034 mills, which is 0.03 mills below the 2025 rate. At 100% collections, the lower rate will result in a net loss of about $102 in taxes versus 2025, as the rollback is designed to produce a revenue-neutral property tax levy.
The city is only a half-mile radius from the Old Courthouse on the square, plus the annexed school grounds, so it raises a relatively small amount in property taxes – just $114,578 with the proposed 2026 mill rate.
For perspective, the city’s 2026 net digest is about $111 million, compared with the county’s net digest of $3 billion. That means most of the city’s revenues come from the permanent Local Option Sales Tax, or LOST, which rolls back the property tax rate each year as mandated by the state.
Without the LOST rollback, which most counties and cities in Georgia enjoy, the city millage rate would be 16.011, so LOST considerably offsets the property tax levy to maintain and operate the City of Blairsville.
Adopting the rollback shows that the city feels confident it can continue to operate over the next fiscal year with roughly the same amount of property taxes generated in 2025. SPLOST also helps the city keep its millage rate low, as covering eligible project costs with SPLOST enables General Fund revenues to be used elsewhere.
Also discussed at the called meeting was Resolution R-2026-13, involving the city’s investment policy. Essentially, it authorizes the mayor and city clerk to move money quicker. The decision was made in regard to CDs and money markets specifically, removing the need for multiple meetings to discuss interest rates with the council. Ultimately, the resolution was approved.
“What this does is just delegate to the mayor and the city clerk the authority to basically pick a plan in compliance with some state laws that set parameters for that instead of having to come back to a council for a decision,” explained City Attorney Marvin Harkins. “It delegates the decision of the council to those two.”
The final order of business involved approving the 2028-2032 Airport Capital Improvement Program. The document outlines the plans for airport construction and expansion, giving rough time estimates for each project.
Following Councilman Tony Dyer asking if the plan was “on track,” Moore revealed that things are a bit behind schedule; namely, the runway was delayed due to the requirement of easements.
Other projects were briefly mentioned, such as a new hanger due for completion in 2029 and parallel taxiway set for construction in 2030. The entire outline was approved.
