Ryan Farmer - Haralson County District 4 Commissioner

I’d like to thank everyone who came out and made their voice heard in the primary. I’m excited for 4 more years of working hard for the 4th district!

This past Tuesday the Board of Commissioners discussed and voted on reallocating SPLOST dollars to fund much needed equipment and vehicles for the sheriff, fire, and roads departments. Those funds could have been used to fund a government complex; however, such a project is not financially feasible for Haralson County at this time and taking care of our public safety and roads departments is both a priority and the best use of SPLOST dollars. We approved the reallocation with a 4 -1 vote and those dollars will purchase 10 new patrol vehicles for the sheriff's office, a new firetruck, and two dump trucks and other equipment for the roads department. By utilizing SPLOST funds, those departments will be able to better manage their existing budget allocations and give the Board the ability to continue rolling back the millage rate moving forward.

For those who may not know what SPLOST is, SPLOST stands for Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax and is on the ballot for voters to approve or deny every few years. SPLOST is a one percent tax on all transactions that occur in Haralson County, and the revenue generated from it can only be used to fund capital projects, infrastructure projects, public safety equipment, a few other various types of projects.

There’s been a lot of confusion about rising property tax assessments in Haralson County, so I want to clear up a few things.

First, I do not control your property value. The Board of Commissioners does not set property assessments. That responsibility belongs to the Tax Appraiser and the Board of Assessors, which are separate from the county commission. We cannot raise or lower your property value.

Second, your tax bill has multiple parts. Most property owners pay county taxes and school taxes, and if you live in a city, you may also pay city taxes. Each of those entities makes its own decisions. The county does not control what the school board does.

Finally, here’s what we did do to help taxpayers. When House Bill 581 passed in 2024, it gave local governments a choice: opt out, or stay in and provide a floating homestead exemption that helps protect homeowners from big increases in taxable value. The Board of Commissioners chose to stay in HB 581 and protect taxpayers.

That means two things: (1) County taxes for 2025 were based on your prior year value, not the full increase and (2) for qualifying homesteads, future taxable value increases are limited by inflation, usually around 2–3% per year. For Tax Year 2026, the Georgia Department of Revenue has set that rate at 2.7%. Meaning any increase in the value of homesteaded property cannot exceed 2.7% for tax year 2026.

The important difference is that the school board unanimously opted out. So school taxes were based on the new, higher assessments, and those HB 581 protections did not apply to that part of your bill.

The bottom line is simple: the Board of Commissioners do not control property values, but where we had the ability to act, we chose to protect taxpayers.

As many of you are likely aware, this evening our commission board met and agreed to purchase the property, also known as the “landfill property”, that was owned by Solid Solutions Development. Though the county had been successful thus far in litigation against Solid Solutions, this purchase puts an end to the current litigation and solidifies the end to the proposed landfill. Myself, and I’m sure my fellow board members, are appreciative of the support of our community and county, and for the trust each of you placed in us to act in the best interests of Haralson County. I will continue to keep your best interests, as residents of Haralson County, first and foremost as I vote on issues impacting our community and county.

Here is a copy of the letter sent to Solid Solutions Development, LLC, regarding their advertisement in yesterday's Haralson Gateway-Beacon.

As some of you may have seen Solid Solutions Development took out a false and misleading advertisement in this week’s issue of the Haralson Gateway-Beacon, claiming to be in partnership with the Haralson County Board of Commissioners and the Haralson County Development Authority on a project.

This could not be further from the truth.

Neither Solid Solutions, nor any representative from the company, has proposed any project to the Commission or Development Authority. Further, neither county entity has agreed in any way to partner with Solid Solutions on any project. This action by Solid Solutions is part of an orchestrated effort to sway public opinion and sow distrust between members of the community and elected officials. As so, our county attorney will be sending a cease-and-desist letter demanding Solid Solutions stop with false and misleading information they are perpetuating.

As always, please feel free to reach out to me with any questions or concerns you may have.