Oconee property owners to see tax hike

The typical Oconee resident owning a $100,000 home can expect to see a tax hike next year of $18.80. The increase will reflect an overall tax mill increase of 5.9 mills in the county tax rate unanimously approved Tuesday by Oconee County Council. For a homeowner with homestead exemption, the increase on the same property would be $9.40, and for the nonresident property owner, $35.45. The Council followed the recommendation presented by County Auditor Christy Hubbard, who outlined that the hike was necessary to fund the approved budgets for the county and the School District of Oconee County in the 2019-2020 fiscal year. The recommendation, Hubbard said, followed a review of all county valuations, which for the current fiscal year saw an increase of $4 million in real estate valuation and $500,000 in business valuations but a drop in utilities valuation of about $6.8 million. That drop stemmed from a reduction of Duke Power’s assessment related to the Oconee Nuclear Station. Total millage for the county will be 63.9 mills, and for the school district, 116.5 mills. For county purposes, a mill is valued at $545,613, and for school district purposes, $404,075.