Gwinnett County property taxes are due Dec. 1, and there’s a new tax in the offing this year.
Over the summer, county commissioners created a new economic development tax to fund the early stages of Rowen, a planned research development.
The tax will bring in an estimated $10.5 to $11 million, said Charlotte Nash, chairman of the Gwinnett County Commission. The 0.3 mills the county will collect beginning this year marks the first economic development tax in Gwinnett.
“It’s not limited to be used only for Rowen, but that’s certainly the impetus for being able to do something with it this year,” Nash said.
The county sold $67.7 million in bonds to pay for the Rowen project, a “knowledge community” intended to echo the Research Triangle in North Carolina. The government will repay $4.1 million a year for 20 years in debt service, costing taxpayers $82 million over the life of the bonds. Commissioners have said the costs will be recouped as Rowen grows and the nonprofit organization formed to operate the project sells land for development.
Nash said the tax will also help fund the board until the project becomes self-sustaining.
The county reduced its general fund tax, but raised police and recreation rates in addition to adding the new economic development tax. The total tax rate is 14.71 mills for residents in unincorporated Gwinnett County, an increase of 1.391 mills.
Tax bills are due later than normal this year because of delays caused by the coronavirus pandemic.
