THOMAS COUNTY, GA (WTXL) — Thomas County property owners could see a significantly lower tax bill in 2026 after county commissioners set a tentative property tax rate of 2.024 mills during Tuesday's commission meeting.
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That is down from 6.272 mills in 2025 — a 67% decrease.
The drop is largely driven by FLOST, a one-cent sales tax Thomas County voters approved in March 2025 to help offset property taxes. This is the first year revenues collected from that tax will be applied to reduce property tax bills.
"The purpose of the sales tax is to reduce property tax," Thomas County Manager Michael Stephenson said. "So you can understand why they've been asking us, you know, what happened to this additional sales tax that we've been paying in all grocery stores, Walmart, wherever you go, they've been paying an additional penny in tax. So this property tax levy, setting the property tax this year, this is the first time those collected revenues are going to be used to reduce the property tax for our citizens."
For a property valued at $500,000, 40% of that value is taxable. At the new tentative rate, a tax bill could be around $405, compared to about $1,254 in 2025.
The county expects to collect about $7.2 million in property taxes in 2026, compared to $17.7 million in 2025. Those tax dollars fund services including the sheriff's office, fire and EMS 911, and other county operations.
Thomas County homeowner and local business owner David Hufstetler said the tentative rate could save him thousands of dollars.
"Between the commercial property and my residence, it's probably going to mean about $10,000 a year to me," Hufstetler said. "That burden's spread around by the people making purchases here in Thomas County. So people that live here, come through here, if they spend any money at all whatsoever, that burden gets spread out amongst everybody."
As the county moves toward setting the final rate, Hufstetler said he wants commissioners to remain mindful of taxpayers.
"I would just hope that they would tighten their belts and make sure they don't overspend, give us the services that we need, and be conscious of that it's the taxpayers' money," Hufstetler said.
County leaders are encouraging residents to learn more about the process and share their questions, concerns, and priorities with their district commissioner before the next county commission meeting on Tuesday, Aug. 25th, when the final 2026 tax rate will be set.
This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
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