Before recessing Tuesday’s city council meeting, Richmond Hill Mayor Russ Carpenter had a quick but emphatic message.

He asked residents to join city council at a public hearing at the South Bryan Administrative Complex, and help fight a proposed Bryan County tax increase on Richmond Hill property owners.

“I encourage all Richmond Hill residents to come out and with our city council fight this increase,” Carpenter said. “We will defeat this with veracity.”

The hearing is set for 6 p.m. at 66 Matthew Freeman Drive at the complex, which Carpenter referred to as the county’s administration building, “or as we all fondly call it, ‘The Taj Mahal.’”

 Bryan County is proposing an  increase of .937 mills for property owners who live in Richmond Hill as part of an overall equalization in which everyone pays the same 8.8 mills. Currently, Richmond Hill residents pay 7.99 mills in county taxes, while property owners in Pembroke and unincorporated Bryan County pay 9.016.

The measure will boost taxes on a $150,000 home in Richmond Hill by $28 a year, according to the county. 

Related story: County makes its case for tax increase