For the

sixth year in a row, the Coweta County Board of

Commissioners is set to slash the millage rate for the

county's property owners.

During

Tuesday's commission meeting, the board voted to call a

meeting Sept. 22 at 9 a.m. in the commission chamber to

set the 1999 millage rate. But Commission Chairman

Lawrence Nelms asked assistant administrator Chuck

Crawford to go ahead and announce the rate.

Residents

in the incorporated county will see their rate drop from

6.42 mils to 6.26 mils, for a decrease of 2.49 percent.

In the unincorporated county, the residents' rate drops

2.04 percent from 5.38 mils to 5.27 mills.

"We've

cut the rate, but every year we've increased

services," Nelms said.

The

county's tax digest jumped from $1.431 billion in 1998 to

$1.529 billion this year.

Since 1994,

the county has decreased the millage rate in the

incorporated area from 6.98 mils to 6.26 mils, while

residents in the unincorporated area have seen their

millage rate cut from 5.80 to 5.27.

The Coweta

County Board of Education will set its millage rate later

this month and tax bills should be mailed to property

owners in October.