The Coweta

County Board of Education will hold its first public hearing next week

to discuss raising its millage rate.

The board is

considering raising the maintenance and operation millage rates by 2.33

mills, to 17.94 mills for 2003. It is also eliminating the current bond

debt millage rate of 1.6 mills. In all, that would mean a net increase

of .73 mills.

There will

be public hearings on the proposed budget Oct. 7 at 8 a.m. and at 6 p.m.,

and October 14 at 6 p.m., with a called board meeting at 6:30 p.m. Oct.

14 to make a final decision on this year's tax rates. The public hearings

will be held at 237 Jackson Street.

In a memo circulated

to school board employees and the press, the board outlined why a millage

rate was necessary.

In June ,

the board adopted a general fund budget of $121 million in expenditures.

Based on state

revenue projections (which are very low this year), the board originally

anticipated that 15.61 mills of tax plus the use of $7 million in system

reserve funds would cover the remainder of the budget this year. This

would allow the millage rate to remain unchanged this year.

Thus, the Board

budgeted revenues of $114 million, which causes us to go into our reserves

for the $7 million difference. Of the $114 million of revenues, $69 million

is state revenues and $45 million is local revenues. The local revenues

included a projection of $41.8 million of ad valorem taxes. This projection

was based upon an 8.6 percent growth in the tax digest.

However, the

memo points out, actual growth in the digest reported to the system Sept.

24 was 4.79 percent, which should yield only $40.3 million in revenues.

This shortfall of $1.5 million would either require the further erosion

of reserves beyond the $7 million originally planned, or would require

an increase in the millage rate.

According to

local realtors, the average value of a home in Coweta County is approximately

$150,000, and 17.94 mills in ad valorem taxes would result in a tax bill

(not including any exemptions) of $1,079 for such a home. With a net increase

proposed of .73 mills, that means that his year's average household in

Coweta County would see a net increase of $43.80 on their tax bill, or

$3.65 per month when broken down that way.

The memo concludes

that school system growth has continued at a high rate while revenue

sources have not kept pace. There has been little to no growth in state

revenues and the growth of the tax digest is sluggish and much lower than

past years. One possible reason for the sluggish tax digest is that most

of the county's growth this past year appears to be residential growth.

The limited commercial and industrial growth probably has contributed

to the lower digest.

School officials

said the board is also faced with the concern that the current poor economic

conditions could remain the same or even worsen next year. These economic

trends, coupled with the continuing high rate of student population growth,

are the reasons the board is proposing 17.94 mills for Maintenance and

Operation and 0.00 mills for Debt Service for a total millage of 17.94.