The Monroe County Board of Education recently announced intention to increase property taxes this year by 3.01 percent over the rollback millage rate.
The increase, which comes as the tax digest trends down by about 3 percent overall, will balance the school board's $37 million FY 17 budget when began July 1. In addition, the board will dedicate a portion of the revenue to a capital project fund for the first phase of a project to rehabilitate aging windows, soffit and roof of the 80-year old Board of Education building (former Mary Persons High School).
Each year, the county 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 - or a decrease -- 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 increase or decrease the assessment. This is called a reassessment.
For 2016, the overall value of the real and personal property on the tax digest in Monroe County has decreased by approximately 3 (three) percent.
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. If the millage rate is higher than that rollback rate, the Board must comply with state law concerning its procedure to finalize its millage rate.
For tax year 2016, the "rollback" millage rate is actually higher than the previous year's tax millage due to the decrease in property values. The FY 2017 budget (July, 2016 to June, 2017) adopted in June by the Monroe County Board of Education will require a millage rate higher than the rollback millage rate.
Therefore, before the Monroe County Board of Education may finalize a millage rate, Georgia Law (O.C.G.A. 48-5-32 and 32.1) requires that three public hearings be held to allow the public an opportunity to express their opinions on this increase.
All concerned citizens are invited to the public hearings on this tax increase . The final hearing will be Thursday, Sept. 29, at 6:30 p.m. All hearings will be held at the Monroe County Board of Education's Central Offices located at 25 Brooklyn Avenue, Forsyth, Georgia.
A called meeting to set the final millage rate will be held at 6:45 p.m. following the third public hearing on Sept. 29.
The Fall Break is October 10 through October 14.
