Canton's Final Tax Hearing Is Tonight, and 400 Acres Are on the Same Agenda

You've watched insurance, groceries, and rent climb all year. Tonight the Canton City Council holds its third and final hearing on a property tax increase, can adopt both the rate and next year's budget, and takes up more than 400 acres of zoning and annexation requests. All of it in one meeting, starting at 6:00 p.m. at City Hall.

This is the meeting that shapes your bill this fall and the traffic on your road for the next decade. The full agenda and every case attachment is here: https://canton.legistar.com/MeetingDetail.aspx?ID=1428147&GUID=663F121C-57A2-46E2-ABDA-A7CADBD3E1A1&Options=&Search=

The printable agenda with the full running order is here: https://canton.legistar.com/View.ashx?M=A&ID=1428147&GUID=663F121C-57A2-46E2-ABDA-A7CADBD3E1A1

Here's what's on it, in plain English.

The money

Canton advertised a 2026 millage rate of 6.000 mills. The current rate is 5.25 mills, and the revenue neutral rollback rate is 5.276 mills. Adopting 6.000 would be an increase of 0.724 mills, which the city's own required notice describes as a 13.72 percent property tax increase. On a home with a fair market value of $450,000, that is approximately $130.32 more per year. On non homestead property worth $250,000, approximately $72.40. The city's millage page, including the tax increase notice and the floating and senior homestead exemptions, is here: https://www.cantonga.gov/government/departments/finance/millage-rate-information

hree things to note:

First, the advertised rate is a ceiling, not a decision. Council may adopt a lower rate after reviewing updated information and public input. Under Georgia law they cannot go higher without restarting the process. The city explained its reasoning when it advertised: https://www.cantonga.gov/Home/Components/News/News/1661/14

Second, tonight is the last of the three required hearings. The notice lists July 2, July 16, and August 6. Item 5F is the hearing. Item 11B under Old Business is Discussion and Possible Action on the rate, and item 11C is Discussion and Possible Action on the FY2027 budget and fee schedule. The agenda does not guarantee a vote, but the city has said it needs to deliver a final adopted rate to the Cherokee County Tax Commissioner by the first week of August for inclusion in property tax bills.

Third, the reason Canton advertised high has partly resolved. The city said it was monitoring a possible increase in the Cherokee County fire millage rate from 2.888 mills to 3.292 mills, which it estimated would raise the applicable cost of fire service to the city by about 18 percent. Canton absorbs the county fire district tax into its millage because of restrictions tied to the city's senior tax exemption. Canton has no fire department of its own and contracts with the county.

The increase came in below that worst case. The Cherokee Tribune reports that on Tuesday, August 4, the Cherokee County Board of Commissioners voted 3 to 2 to adopt 8.999 mills total: 5.712 for maintenance and operations, 3.023 for the fire fund, and 0.264 for the parks bond. Chairman Harry Johnston made the motion, and Commissioners Will Cagle and Corey Ragsdale voted against it. That report is here, though it may require a subscription: https://www.tribuneledgernews.com/local_news/cherokee-county-commissioners-raise-property-tax-rate/article_06f352f3-59c7-4c70-9e56-9f9b4d474e1e.html

The county posts its own millage documents and hearing presentations here: https://www.cherokeecountyga.gov/finance/millage-rate-information/

So the questions for tonight. How does the county fire rate factor into the city's millage, in dollars? What changes for Canton because the fire rate landed at 3.023 rather than 3.292? And given that, what is the lowest rate the adopted budget can carry? The June monthly financial report is item 7D if you want the numbers behind the ask.

The land

Six zoning and annexation matters are on this agenda. Five sit under Public Hearings at item 5, and one is up for possible action under Old Business.

Item 5C, annex and rezone 48.192 acres along Ball Ground Highway and Fate Conn Road for a 167 unit subdivision and commercial and light industrial areas. Cases ANNX2605-011, RZON2605-010, MP2605-013, CUP2605-012, and VAR2605-003.

Item 5E, annex 176 acres along Old Shoal Creek Road and rezone from R-40, AG, and GC in the county to R-10 and R-40 in the city, for a proposed single family subdivision of 199 lots. Cases ANNX2605-015 and RZON2605-016. R-40 requires substantially larger lots than R-10, so part of this land would carry considerably more houses per acre inside the city than the county classification allowed.

That is 224.192 acres proposed for annexation and 366 new units and lots between the two items. Annexation moves land out of county zoning and into city zoning, and it moves the cost of serving that land onto the city. Ask what the city projects those two developments will cost in water, sewer, roads, and police over their first decade, and what they will generate.

Item 11A, rezone 177.43 acres at 2030 and 2050 Sam Nelson Road and 650 Talcmine Drive from PD-MU, Planned Development Mixed Use, to R-4 single family residential. Case RZON2604-010. This one is Discussion and Possible Action, so Council can vote tonight. The question to ask is what the previously approved mixed use master plan included, and what the city loses if it is replaced by single family.

Item 5B, Riverstone Retreat at 151 Violet Way: a conditional use permit to build multi family units in lieu of the approved townhomes. Case CUP2605-007.

Item 5D, River Green Pods J1 and J2: a zoning condition amendment to change originally approved townhomes to single family detached homes. Case ZCA2605-014.

Item 5A, 109 Railroad Street: rezone 0.741 acres from Light Industrial to Central Business District, with a conditional use permit for a religious facility and concurrent variances to UDC sections 104.03.18.A and 104.03.18.C. Cases RZON2605-009, CUP2605-008, and VAR2607-003.

Two items under Informational Items get no vote tonight but are worth attention, because both would change conditions already attached to approved projects. Item 7B asks to eliminate a required landscape buffer for a portion of Riverstone Pod G, case MPA2606-003. Item 7C asks to amend the master plan for Riverstone Pod J to add car dealerships as an allowed use, with concurrent variances, cases MPA2607-005 and VAR2607-002.

Two items nobody is talking about

Item 7A, a presentation from the Information Technology Department by Director of Information Technology Michael Morgan. The agenda gives no description and lists no attachment, which means the public has no way to know what it covers before it starts. That alone is a reason to be in the room. If it touches cameras, data sharing, records systems, or AI tools, ask who has access, how long data is retained, and whether any of it is shared with outside or federal agencies.

Item 12E, model guidelines for the Partnership for Public Facilities and Infrastructure Act, presented by Assistant City Manager Nathan Ingram. PPFIA is Georgia's 2015 public private partnership law. Under OCGA 36-91-112, before executing a comprehensive agreement on an unsolicited proposal, a local government must adopt either the state Guidelines Committee's model guidelines or its own. And under the act, if a local government accepts an unsolicited proposal as a qualifying project, it must then seek competing proposals through a request for proposals. The statute is here: https://law.justia.com/codes/georgia/2022/title-36/chapter-91/article-5/section-36-91-112/

What Council adopts tonight determines how much of that process is visible. Ask what the public notice period will be and at what point an unsolicited proposal becomes a public record.

Also under New Business: extending the Downtown Entertainment District boundaries, item 12A; a preliminary engineering agreement with Georgia Northeastern Railroad Company for the Hickory Flat Gateway project, item 12B; city owned Parcel 12 for the Highway 140 at Marietta Highway and Riverstone Parkway project, item 12C; a lighting services agreement with Georgia Power, item 12D; and a fee waiver request from Canton First United Methodist Church, item 12F.

How to speak tonight

Canton gives you two separate ways to make public comment.

Item 9 is listed on the agenda as "Ten Minute Public Input." That is the general comment period, and it falls after the Informational Items and before Old Business, which means it comes before the millage rate vote at item 11B. The city does not publish a separate speaker policy, so call the City Clerk to confirm how the ten minutes are divided and whether you need to sign up: https://www.cantonga.gov/government/city-clerk

Item 5 is the zoning hearings, and each case gets its own, separate from the ten minute period. Under OCGA 36-66-5, local governments must adopt written hearing policies and give proponents and opponents each a minimum of ten minutes per side. The statute is here: https://law.justia.com/codes/georgia/2010/title-36/provisions/chapter-66/36-66-5

Canton's hearing procedures live in Chapter 105 of the Unified Development Code: https://library.municode.com/GA/Canton/codes/code_of_ordinances?nodeId=PTIIIDECO_CH105DECOAD_105.08.03RE

One thing to know if you have donated locally. Under OCGA 36-67A-3, an opponent of a rezoning who has given $250 or more to an official of the local government considering the application, within the two years before the application was filed, must file a campaign contribution disclosure, and that disclosure is due at least five calendar days before the first hearing on the application. Tonight is not the first hearing on these cases, so if that applies to you, call the clerk before you speak: https://law.justia.com/codes/georgia/2022/title-36/chapter-67a/section-36-67a-3/

If they can only speak once, most people would probably want to speak on the millage rate to ask Council to adopt the lowest rate the adopted budget can carry now that the county fire number came in below the worst case. If you do that, ask for the specific dollar gap. Ask what impact fees, if any, the city collects on the units it is being asked to consider tonight, and whether new development is covering its own costs or whether existing homeowners are covering them through the millage rate.

Who to contact

The roster and contact form is here: https://www.cantonga.gov/government/city-council

• Mayor Bill Grant

• Ward 1: Travis Johnson and Darrell Rice

• Ward 2: Bryan Roach and Shawn Tolan

• Ward 3: Dwayne Waterman and Farris Yawn, Mayor Pro Tem

• City Hall main line: 770-704-1500

Canton City Council Regular Meeting Thursday, August 6, 2026, 6:00 p.m. City Hall, Council Chambers, 110 Academy Street, Canton, GA 30114

Council meets at 6:00 p.m. on the first and third Thursday of each month. The next regular meeting is Thursday, August 20. The Board of Appeals holds a public hearing on August 10 and a work session on August 24. The full city meeting calendar is here: https://canton.legistar.com/Calendar.aspx