Hall C. BOE sets public hearings for budget; board to ask for tax increase

Posted 3:01PM on Wednesday, May 27, 2015

GAINESVILLE — As the Hall County School Board prepares to adopt its upcoming budget, three public hearings have been scheduled, and the Board plans to ask for a property tax increase to restore some funding lost during the economic downturn.

A press release issued Wednesday morning said the Board will increase property taxes by 2.57 percent, although the millage rate will be set at a rate of 18.8 mills, a decrease of one-tenth of a mill. Depending on property assessments, taxes may increase for some property owners, but not others.

One public hearing will be held on Monday, June 8, while the other two hearings are scheduled for Monday, June 22. [See full BOE press statement below.]

At a recent school board meeting, Superintendent Will Schofield said the additional money from the tax hike will fund step raises for all certified and classified staff. In addition, the school district plans to add 15 teachers in order to reduce class sizes. School nurses will have additional hours, while school bus drivers should see a 5% increase in pay and substitute teachers should get a 10% pay hike.

School Board Member Craig Herrington noted at that same meeting on May 18 that while the increases will be welcome, the amount still does not restore all of the cuts made to staff during the recession years.

The following is the full statement from the Hall County Board of Education:

The Hall County Board of Education today announces its intention to increase the property taxes it will levy in 2015 by 2.57 percentage over the rollback millage rate.

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. The rollback rate for 2015 is 18.329 mills. The Board of Education is proposing a rate of 18.80 mills which is an increase of .471 mills. The current mill rate is 18.90 mills. The proposed mill rate of 18.80 is a reduction of .10 mills. Whether or not the taxes of an individual property increases or decreases depends on the amount of reassessment, if any, that property receives.

The budget tentatively adopted by the Hall County Board of Education requires a millage rate higher than the rollback millage rate, therefore, before the Hall County Board of Education may finalize the budget and set a final millage rate, Georgia law requires three public hearings to be held to allow the public an opportunity to express their opinions on the increase.

All concerned citizens are invited to the public hearings on this tax increase to be held at the Hall County School District, 711 Green Street, Gainesville, Georgia 30501 as follows: June 8, 2015 at 5:00 p.m. June 22, 2015 at 11:30 a.m. June 22, 2015 at 6:00 p.m.

B.J. Williams