Council okays 30% tax hike

By TOMMY PURSER
Editor-Publisher
At their meeting last Thursday, the Hazlehurst City Council voted to raise property taxes in the city by more than 30%.
And by Tuesday of this week, at least one council member had come to the realization that such a move might be a mistake.
The council has a budget meeting se† for Oct. 13 at noon, at which time they can reconsider the tax hike. But after last week’s action, one would be hard pressed to predict what action, if any, they’ll take.
Tax Commissioner Susie Kersey was at last Thursday’s meeting, at the city’s request, to explain what effect the large increase in the 2026 tax digest would have on the millage rate the council was to adopt. She told the council that, in 2025, one mill of taxes produced approximately $121,000 in tax revenue. With the increased tax digest value, a mill of taxes would produce almost $141,000 this year.
That meant that, last year, the city’s 6-mill tax levy generated approximately $726,000. With the new digest, a 6-mill levy would produce approximately $846,000 — an increase of some $120,000.
But Ward 3 Councilman Chris Jones informed Kersey that the council didn’t plan to levy 6 mills again but, rather, had previously agreed to raise the rate to 7 mills.
At a tax rate of 7 mills, the council would receive over $980,000. In fact, Tuesday morning of this week the Tax Commissioner had sent her office’s official report to state officials, informing them that the City of Hazlehurst would receive $981,004.76 through the 7-mill levy approved at last Thursday’s meeting.
Kersey reported that that amount of taxes was a 30.09% tax increase.
The city’s decision to add a mill to the millage rate is unusual when considering the fact that both the Jeff Davis County Commission and the Board of Education lowered their millage rates because of the large increase in the tax digest.
Additionally, the council had already approved a balanced budget with the expectation of receiving the same amount of tax revenue they received in 2025.
Mayor John Ramay said at last week’s council meeting that the council would hold a called meeting to determine how to balance the approved budget in light of the increased tax revenues they approved earlier that night.