City of Savannah holds public hearing on millage rate

SAVANNAH, Ga. (WTOC) - The City of Savannah is preparing to set its lowest millage rate since 1987. Thursday night, the city held its first of three public hearings for the millage rate.

City leaders are considering a 2026 property tax millage rate of 11.749 mills. This rate is unchanged from the 2025 adopted rate and the rate used to develop the 2026 budget.

This means there is an increase of 3.00 percent over the rollback rate for property owners not protected by the Stephens-Day Exemption.

The prices of everything is going up," said Savannah Mayor Van Johnson. “We want to continue to pay our employees a livable wage and really above market wages. We’re trying to get there.”

No one spoke at Thursday night’s public hearing. There are two other public hearings for residents to share comments before city leaders adopt the millage rate.

Those meetings are scheduled for August 13th at 11:00am and 2:00pm at Savannah City Hall.