Fayette County Board of Education has announced a proposed property tax increase over the rollback millage rate
The Fayette County Board of Education last week announced its intention to adopt the millage rate at 19.500 mills. That will effectively raise property taxes the board of education will levy this year by 3.12 percent over the rollback millage rate, the school system said in a news release Aug. 2.
The proposed millage rate is equal to the prior year’s millage rate, according to the announcement.
The fiscal year 2019 budget adopted by the Fayette County Board of Education requires a millage rate higher than the rollback millage rate; therefore, Georgia law requires three public hearings be held to allow the public an opportunity to express their opinions on the proposed increase.
Increases in the 2019 budget include additional classroom teachers, additional support staff, years of service credit increases, and an increase in the employer contribution rate to the Teacher’s Retirement System (TRS).
The total budget increase is $8.97 million. The TRS employer contribution rate is determined by the state of Georgia and accounts for $5.54 million or 61.8 percent of the increase.
All concerned citizens are invited to the public hearings on this tax increase to be held at the Fayette County Board of Education building located at 210 Stonewall Avenue, Fayetteville, on Aug. 13 at 12 noon and later that same day at 6 p.m., and Aug. 20, at 6 p.m.
The millage adoption is scheduled to occur Aug. 20 following the final public hearing.
The school system explained the process this way:
“Each year, the board of tax assessors is required to review the assessed value for property tax purposes of taxable property in the county. When the trend of prices on properties that have recently sold in the county indicate there has been an increase in the fair market value of any specific property, the board of tax assessors is required by law to re-determine the value of such property and adjust the assessment. This is called a reassessment.
“When the total digest of taxable property is prepared, Georgia law requires that a rollback millage rate must be computed that will produce the same total revenue on the current year’s digest that last year’s millage rate would have produced had no reassessments occurred,” according to the news release.
