The Coweta

County Commission kept an earlier promise and approved lower 2001 property

tax rates Wednesday.

The county

millage rates approved were "rolled back" to reflect the percentage

increase resulting from a state mandated reappraisal of all properties

in the county.

The result

makes the reappraisal revenue neutral for the county's portion of the

2001 tax bill.

Residents who

live in the incorporated county saw their rate drop from 6.2 millsto 5.02.

Residents in the unincorporated county saw the rate plummet to 4.26 from

5.21.

The difference

in county millage rates for incorporated and unincorporated areas results

from a state requirement that the millage rate in the unincorporated areas

of the county be decreased to match an insurance premium tax received

that decrease in their city tax rates.

In presenting

the 2001 millage rates, Finance Director Rick Smoot noted that the roll

back in the county's millage rates exceeded those required by state law

in order to ensure that the reappraisal process was indeed revenue neutral

for the county.