The City of Hinesville is cutting its millage rate again.

Council members adopted a millage rate of 9.98, a decrease of .12 mills from the 2024 rate of 10.1. City chief financial officer Kim Ryon said it is the eighth time in the last 11 years council members have approved a lower millage rate than the year before. Those cuts have resulted in the millage falling by 1.53 mills in that span.

Because the city’s digest grew — and the millage rate adopted did not equal a rate that would offset the digest’s growth — the millage rate cut had to be declared as a property tax increase. Ryon said not only property owners in the city may see an increase in their taxes as a result. If their property assessment remained the same or decreased, their taxes will be less than the year before.

The full rollback rate was 9.703.

Still, the adopted rate is the lowest in 50 years, Mayor Karl Riles pointed out.

“Every department comes with a wish list, a large wish list,” he said. “And every department cuts from that list to get down to that amount so we can lower these millage rates. Our budget process, which is open to the public, we go line by line on every single thing. It’s a testament to the entire city staff, to every single department for tightening the belt to make sure we can deliver tax savings to the public.”

The city’s total digest is $1.17 billion, an increase of more than $90 million from 2024. The city expects take in more than $11.6 million in property taxes, an increase of more than $770,000 over the previous year.

The city’s general fund budget for its fiscal year, which began November 1, is $32.2 million.