As Liberty County commissioners faced a millage rate that leads to higher taxes, residents implored them to do something about their taxes.

The county millage rate for cities and the unincorporated outside of Hinesville is projected to be 21.14 and for residents inside the Hinesville city limits, the county millage rate will be 18.51. The county charges a lesser millage rate for Hinesville residents so they are not charged for a duplication of services, Chief Financial Officer Samantha Richardson said. The county millage rate does not include the proposed millage from the board of education, the hospital authority or the development authority. The development authority is constitutionally enacted and receives 2 mills each year. The hospital authority is proposing a 3.843 millage rate and the school board’s proposal is 15.25 mills.

The county’s budget for fiscal year 2024 is nearly $58 million, up nearly 17% from FY23’s $49.5 million. The budget has grown 67% since FY2020, when it was at $34.5 million.

Richardson pointed out a handful of factors leading to the budget growing by nearly $7.8 million for FY 24. The county’s property insurance rose by nearly $1.8 million from the previous year.

“Because we are a coastal county, we are having to pay more to insure our buildings,” Chairman Donald Lovette said. “That’s out of our control.”

Also, the county approved the hiring of new personnel, enacted a salary study and commissioners approved merit and longevity pay for employees that totaled $3.4 million. Plus, Richardson pointed out, jail operations costs increased by more than $770,000 for providing inmate health care.

Richardson also said the county is trying to restore its fund balance, which was used to balance the budget the previous year.

Bob Sprinkel, who retired as the assistant county administrator, said the growing taxes are making it hard on retirees.

“It’s getting hard,” he said, “especially for someone on a fixed income. It’s getting very tough on senior citizens, when you don’t have another income coming in.

“I’m getting taxed out of my home, and I make a good retirement.”

Sprinkel said the growth of the digest is good and he understood how much money the exemptions take out of the property tax stream. But he also warned commissioners the overall taxes may turn out to be too much for elderly residents.

“Being retired is not fun, when you run out of money,” Sprinkel said. “Be cautious that you have retirees living out there on fixed incomes.”

Marcie Hamilton, who lives on Colonels Island, expressed her dissatisfaction for millage rates increasing five straight years.

“It’s insane,” she said. Richardson said the county cut about $1 million from the budget requests from the departments, and is holding off hiring new firefighters, about $625,000, as the county likely won’t be able to fill those new positions.

“I think we’ve done a good job in telling people ‘no,’” Lovette said of the budget requests.

Since 2020, the property tax digest across the county has grown from $1.6 billion to more than $2.4 billion, a rise of nearly $680 million. In just the last year, the digest has grown more than 25%, or $492 million.

Property tax exemptions also have increased since 2020, going from nearly $233 million to almost $400 million for the unincorporated portions of the county and the smaller municipalities. For the county, the exemptions grew from $381 million to more than $557.7 million.

“This is an unprecedented increase for the county,” Richardson said. “Our exemptions outpaced our growth.”

Three exemptions — freeport, disabled veterans and the Kemp-Deloach- Williams Act freeze — account for 80% of the exemptions, Richardson added.

Commissioner Connie Thrift noted that many of the exemptions are done statewide. The freeport exemption and the Kemp-Deloach-Williams (KDW) Act exemptions are local in nature were voted into effect.

The monthly increase for a taxpayer with a home worth $150,000 is $19 per month and on a home valued at $250,000 is $31 per month. Those increases are before any exemptions are applied, Richardson noted.

“This is not something elected officials want to do,” Chairman Lovette said of raising taxes.

Lovette and Stevens, a former longtime volunteer firefighter, said the county has had to spend money for a full-time fire department because volunteers are becoming increasingly harder to recruit.

The next two public hearings on the county millage rate will be November 16 at noon and 5 p.m.