Coweta County

residents have two opportunities next week to make their feelings known

about the school board's proposed tax hike.

Last week,

the Coweta County School Board announced it would increase the property

taxes it will levy this year by 5.67 percent over the rollback millage

rate.

Currently,

the millage rate is 17.94 for maintenance and operation, with a proposed

increase of .67 mills, for a total millage rate of 18.61.

The millage

rate increase comes on the heels of the system borrowing $5 million from

its reserves for this years budget, said public information officer Dean

Jackson.

Jackson said

each year, the Board of 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 redetermine the value

of such property and increase 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 new digest that last year's millage rate would have

produced had no reassessments occurred.

The budget

tentatively adopted by the Coweta County School System requires a millage

rate higher than the rollback millage rate. Therefore, before the Coweta

County School System may finalize the tentative budget and set a final

millage rate, Georgia law requires that three public hearings be held

to allow the public an opportunity to express their opinions on their

increase.

All concerned

citizens are invited to the public hearings on this tax increase to be

held at the following locations at the indicated times: Sept. 22 at 8

a.m. and 6 p.m. and Sept. 29 at 6 p.m. at the Coweta County School System

Boardroom, 237 Jackson Street in Newnan.