SPRINGFIELD, Ga. — Effingham County school property owners could see a much larger tax cut than previously expected, with the Effingham County School District proposing to lower its millage rate to 16.45 mills using tax-relief money generated by the sale of land for the proposed OpenAI data center. The district will hold a special meeting Aug. 31 at 8:30 a.m. at the school district's central office, 405 N. Ash St., Springfield, to ask the Effingham County Board of Education to reconsider the 18.018-mill rate it approved Aug. 20 and lower it by another 1.568 mills. The proposed rate would be 2 mills below the 18.45 mills the district charged last year. Superintendent Yancy Ford said the additional reduction is possible because of the tax-relief money being returned to the county from the sale of land for Project Camellia. “We are thankful for this opportunity. Because of IDA's sale of land to OpenAI, the county is giving us back 2 mills, and we are going to give it to the taxpayers,” Ford said. “That's what I am going to ask the board to do Monday.” The additional reduction is part of a new countywide property tax-relief plan announced Monday by the Effingham County Industrial Development Authority, the Effingham County Board of Commissioners and the Effingham County School District. Under the plan, ECIDA will provide $30 million annually to the county for three years, with approximately 2 mills of that funding used to reduce the school district's millage rate. The combined…
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