The Cobb Board of Education has already passed the fiscal year 2024 budget for the Cobb County School District that took effect July 1.
But it must still officially adopt the millage rate for property taxes that will be collected this fall.
Although the $1.48 billion budget included a tentative reduction in the millage rate, the district is still collecting more revenues than FY 2023.
Therefore, state law considers that a tax increase and requires the school board to hold three public hearings on the millage rate.
Two of those will take place at 11:30 a.m. and 6 p.m. Thursday in the board room of the Cobb school district’s central office (514 Glover St., Marietta).
Members of the public are invited to speak on the millage rate at those hearings, and at the final hearing on July 20 at 7 p.m. in the same location.
That’s when the school board also is scheduled to vote on adopting the millage rate.
The county’s tax digest comes out in July, and this year in Cobb it’s another record—$58.1 billion, which is up 15.7 percent from last year.
The Cobb school board voted in May to pass a budget and lower the millage rate for school taxes from 18.9 mills to 18.7 mills in the wake of rising property tax assessments.
It was the first time in 15 years the school board has unofficially lowered the property tax rate, which in Georgia is capped at 20 mills.
But board vice chairman David Banks of Post 5 in East Cobb wanted the tax cut to be larger, and voted present at budget adoption.
He called it “the largest tax increase the school district has ever had” and suggested a cut of 0.5 mills.
In its official notice of a tax increase that is required to be publicly advertised, the Cobb school district said that because of those increased revenues, the 18.7 mills still represents an effective increase of 2.612 mills.
“Without this tentative tax increase, the millage rate will be no more than 16.088 mills,” the notice said. “The proposed tax increase for a home with a fair market value of $400,000 is approximately $391.80 and the proposed tax increase for non-homestead property with a fair market value of $550,000 is approximately $574.64.”
The FY 2024 budget includes salary increases between 7.5 percent and 12.1 percent for full-time employees, and the Cobb school district will hire an additional 11 officers for its police department, which currently has 70 officers.
The millage rate hearings also will be live-streamed on the Cobb County School District’s BoxCast channel and on CobbEdTV, Comcast Channel 24.
