Cobb tax digest

Hearings slated for proposed FY 2020 Cobb millage rate

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Cobb budget town hall, Mike Boyce, Cobb public safety bonus, Cobb millage rate

Cobb Commission Chairman Mike Boyce isn’t proposing a millage rate increase for fiscal  year 2020 like he did a year ago. But growth in the county’s tax digest means public hearings will be necessary specifically for the millage rate.

That’s because under state law, local governments and school boards that don’t assess a “rollback” millage rate to counter that tax revenue increase are in effect imposing a property tax increase, and are required to hold public hearings.

Last week Cobb Tax Assessor Steven White declared that the 2019 Cobb tax digest will be a record $39 billion, surpassing last year’s total of $36.2 billion.

The county announced Tuesday that those public hearings will take place on the same dates and at the same Cobb Board of Commissioners meetings in which FY 2020 budget hearings have been scheduled:

  • Tuesday, July 9, 9 a.m.;
  • Tuesday, July 16, 6:30 p.m.;
  • Tuesday, July 23, 2019, 7 p.m.

That last meeting is also slated for final budget adoption. Last week Boyce outlined his $474.8 million budget proposal that he will formally introduce Monday at 1:30 p.m.

The property tax “increase” amounts to 4.52 percent from last year’s general fund revenues.

The Cobb Board of Education also holds millage rate hearings in similar situations. It hasn’t upped the school millage rate of 18.9 mills in years, but tax revenue growth has meant it also has had to hold the same hearings.

This year that tax revenue increase for Cobb schools is 4.88 percent. A recent history of the schools millage rate levy can be found here.

Next Wednesday, the school board will hold its first public hearing on the tax digest at 11 a.m. at the Cobb County School District headquarters, 514 Glover St., Marietta. Additional hearings are in the same location on July 18 at 12 p.m. and 6:30 p.m., with millage rate adoption scheduled for the same day at 7 p.m.

The Cobb schools fiscal year 2020 began on Monday.

The proposed FY 2020 Cobb government millage rates are as follows:

  • General Fund, 8.46 mills;
  • Fire Fund, 2.86 mills;
  • Debt Service (Bond Fund), 0.13 mills;
  • Cumberland Special Services District II, 2.45 mills;
  • Six Flags Special Service District, 3.50 mills.

Citizens can speak on the budget and millage rate proposals at the meetings listed above. They will be held in the second floor board meeting room of the Cobb government building, 100 Cherokee St., downtown Marietta.

Here’s more from the Cobb Tax Commissioners Office on the county’s millage rate history, and the millage rates compared to the six cities in the county.

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Cobb tax digest for 2018 is announced at a record $36.7 billion

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Robinson Park construction, Cobb tax digest

The Cobb tax digest total for this year is better than initially projected.

Stephen White, the Cobb County Tax Assessor, has announced that it’s a record $36.7 billion for 2018, and was approved Thursday by the Board of Tax Assessors.

The tax digest is the taxable value of all commercial and residential property. White said this year’s digest is a nine percent increase over 2017, which was a record $33.6 billion.

“The increase in the tax digest sends a great message to all business owners and property owners,” White said in a statement issued by the county. “The message is that your investment is doing well. We are a desired county for real estate and this is a very strong real estate market we are in.”

Earlier this year tax digest growth of 7.5 percent was predicted, just as county officials were preparing to address a projected fiscal year 2019 budget deficit of at least $30 million.

That’s just a little bit more than this year’s value of the floating homestead exemption. That exemption freezes the taxable value of a home as it pertains to general fund portion of a tax bill.

The floating exemption total this year is $28.4 million, a savings for residential property owners, but as the county noted in a release this morning, “that exemption means the county’s general fund will not fully reap the benefits of the growth in the tax digest.”

In Cobb Commission Chairman Mike Boyce”s proposed FY 2019 budget of $453 million, the homestead exemption total would rise to $35.6 million. He’s seeking a 1.7 mills increase in the general fund.

Boyce has been holding budget town hall meetings around the county, and they will conclude on July 9 at the Sewell Mill Library and Cultural Center.

Budget adoption and setting of the millage rate is scheduled for July 25.

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Cobb tax digest projected to grow by 7.5 percent in 2018

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Mike Boyce, Cobb tax digest

The good news for county homeowners is that the Cobb tax digest is projected to grow by 7.5 percent in 2018, to around $36 billion in assessed value, after a record $33 billion total in 2017.

The bad news is that growth won’t solve the estimated $30 million-$55 million Cobb government budget deficit that’s being estimated for fiscal year 2019.

UPDATE: Cobb chairman proposes revised budget, keeping parks and libraries open

What that all that means for your property tax bill depends on a number of factors, including assessments, eligibility for homestead and senior exemptions and whether or not the Cobb Board of Commissioners approves of a possible millage rate increase to help cover the deficit.

Residential property tax assessments will go out in early May, and the tax digest value is finalized in July.

Earlier projections had the Cobb tax digest rising by around 5.5 percent. Cobb budget director Bill Volckmann said that 7.5 percent growth, if that comes to pass, would add around an additional $6 million to general fund coffers.

The average home value in Cobb is now around $285,000, and the assessed value of the Atlanta Braves’ property near SunTrust Park in the Cumberland area has grown from $188 million in 2017 to $360 million this year, according to the Cobb tax assessor’s office.

In a presentation this week, tax assessor Stephen White most Cobb homeowners have a “floating” homestead exemption, which means that the assessed value of that a property remains frozen and does not increase the amount of the general fund.

“The floating homestead on the county general portion of your tax bill means your assessed value stays the same from year-to-year,” White said. “We might increase the fair market value of your home, but the assessed value on a homesteaded property stays the same from the time you purchased the property.”

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The general fund portion of the county budget pays for police, sheriff’s office, transportation, parks and libraries, courts and other general government operational expenses.

There’s a separate millage rate that funds fire and emergency services, and the Cobb County School District also levies its own millage rate.

Those categories, White said, likely will benefit from the tax digest growth. The Cobb general fund, on the other hand, is in more severe straits than the current FY 2018 budget of $405 million.

That was balanced with some program cuts and with the use of nearly $20 million in contingency funding.

Cobb Commission chairman Mike Boyce (above) is suggesting that the present general fund millage rate of 6.76 might not be enough to fund the FY 2019 budget, but he hasn’t offered any recommendations.

“We knew this $30 million hole was coming years ago,” Boyce said in a statement issued by Cobb government, “and because the floating exemption prevents the general fund from fully benefitting from the tax digest increase, the board must bring forth a millage rate that will support a quality of life Cobb residents expect.”

Already he’s come under fire for proposing a membership fee and other increased charges for senior services.

Major proposed cuts to the Cobb library system also call for the closure of the East Cobb Library, which also has resulted in a vocal outcry.

District 2 Cobb commissioner Bob Ott, whose district includes much of East Cobb, vowed that he will fight to keep open that branch, one of the busiest in the county, but is asking constituents to communicate with his colleagues about that.

He also has said he does not support any tax increase without finding other budget savings.

 

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