The Lawrenceville City Council decided Wednesday to hold its millage rate at 2.16, a move that city officials believe will result in a 9 percent decrease in property taxes for residents.
The council members unanimously approved the rate by a 4-0 vote at a specially called meeting, held about 90 minutes before the county's deadline for submitting a millage rate. Lawrenceville hasn't changed its millage rate since 2007, when it was lowered from 2.31 to 2.2.
City Clerk Bob Baroni said residents should see a drop in taxes because of the devaluation of property values over the past year. On a Lawrenceville house valued at $150,000,
Council members postponed a vote on the millage rate during its regular meeting last week, asking for more time to determine how it would figure into the upcoming budget for fiscal year 2012. The delay meant Mayor Judy Jordan Johnson had to ask Gwinnett County for an extension, which was granted and reset at 5 p.m. Wednesday.
Once the council approved the rate, a city staffer rushed a series of documents over to the county government offices about a mile away.
Councilman Tony Powell, the council's newest member, said Lawrenceville should consider starting the budget process earlier in the year so council members could have a better sense of the impact of the millage rate.
Powell also suggested that, in the future, he'd like to do away with the millage rate.
"We could be considered a place where they don’t have property taxes," Powell said, "and that could be an incentive [for] revitalization."
Councilwoman Marie Beiser countered that Lawrenceville already has one of the lowest millage rates in the county and the city should continue to invest in services for its residents.
"We get a lot of services out of that small amount of money," she said.
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