Counties in rural southeast Georgia have higher property tax rates than more urbanized counties

Property taxes vary widely from state to state and county to county, but rural counties in Southeast Georgia have higher rates than their more highly populated counterparts. The rates in the region are as much as 50 percent higher than the more populated counties, reports Gordon Jackson of the Florida Times Union in Jacksonville (just off lower right of map).

The reason for the difference in tax rates is "driven by population, commercial development and the value of residences," Jackson reports. McIntosh County Manager Luther Smart, whose county has a rate of 26.5 mills (cents per $1,000 worth of property), told Jackson it's an "injustice" to compare millage rates because smaller counties must provide the same services as larger ones, but have smaller populations and commercial infrastructures. The small populations are further magnified by Georgia's 159 counties, second most in the country behind Texas. (Kentucky is next, with 120.)

"Residents want taxes lower but want more services," Smart told Jackson. "We're at the bottom of the totem pole." Rural residents also carry a heavier burden to support those services, and they "don't get as much for their contribution in taxes," Jackson writes. "They wait longer for emergency services, drive on more unpaved roads, travel farther to shop and drive more miles to work." (Read more)