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LEE COUNTY, Ga. (WALB) — The Lee County government has officially approved its property tax rate for 2026.

At a special called meeting on Oct. 19, the board of commissioners voted to approve an overall millage rate of 29.710 mills.

This includes the county rate of 11.17 mills, a drop from the 2025 rate of 12.315 mills.

The board was also tasked with confirming the Lee County Board of Education’s recent approval of its 17.96 millage rate, a two-mill increase from last year that comes with possible funding cuts.

This came after the school board faced major pushback on its proposal to increase the rate by three mills.

Previous coverage on the Lee County Board of Education’s millage rate hearings:

District 3 Commissioner Billy Mathis said he wanted to make one thing clear to the public ahead of the commission’s vote.

“Just so there’s no confusion, we’ve had a couple of people ask about our role in setting the millage rate,” said Mathis. ”We have no discretion in setting the school board’s millage. The school board sets their own millage rate, and we have absolutely no discretion but to adopt whatever millage they adopt."

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