Wow, Georgia has so many counties for its size! One oddity is that Ware county in the southeastern corner has the highest rate in the state at 9%. The only reasons I can guess at for this are that it's a relatively large county and, more importantly, a significant area of it is taken up by the Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge, which is a significant tourist attraction for the area. The other interesting thing is how low the tax rates are in the wealthy, northern suburbs of Atlanta. Those counties historically have had healthy school districts (funded largely by property taxes) and have abstained from investing in public transportation. The City of Atlanta has taken the exact opposite trajectory in both of those camps, and it shows: its tax rate has crept up to 8.9% over the years.