The Coweta

County Commission decided to give residents a little bit of a tax break

Tuesday.

The County

Commission voted to roll back the county's property tax rate to compensate

for the increased property assessments many residents are receiving this

year.

Commissioner

Lawrence Nelms led off the discussion by stating there were a lot of rumors

swirling that the county planned to increase taxes this year.

Under a bill

signed by Gov. Roy Barnes last year, local governments must roll back

the tax rates to account for the increased property values.

If they don't,

they must conduct three public hearings indicating how much the "tax

increase" would be by keeping the same millage rate.

Nelms said

he wanted the people of Coweta County to know that the commission is committed

to maintaining the lowest possible tax rate. He also issue the Coweta

County Board of Education a challenge.

"I urge

the school board to do the same thing," he said.

Because of

the massive reasssements undertaken this year, residents will be receiving

their tax bills in December instead of this month. Tax bills will be due

in February, but if residents want to claim the tax payment on their federal

tax return, the bill must be paid by Dec. 31.