Cobb Passes $1.3 Billion Budget, Keeps Millage Rate Flat in Partisan Votes

MARIETTA — Following a lineup of public commenters demanding a millage rate rollback and a reduction in the general fund budget, the Cobb County Board of Commissioners bucked those concerns and voted to pass its $1.3 billion budget and keep its millage rate flat Tuesday night.

Both the millage rate and budget were passed along partisan lines in 3-2 votes, with Republicans Keli Gambrill and JoAnn Birrell opposed to both.

“We’re collecting more money than we should,” Gambrill said.

Both the general fund millage rate and the fire fund millage rate remained flat at 8.46 mills and 2.99 mills, respectively.

Though the tax rate will not be increasing, rising home values will bring an additional $22.6 million in general fund property tax revenue from last year, increasing from $365.5 million to $388.1 million.

The fire fund, meanwhile, will collect $11.7 million more than it did last year, rising from $138.7 million to $150.4 million.

The proposed tax increase for the owner of a $450,000 home would be $119, according to the county.

In order to collect the same amount of property tax as last year, the county would need to lower the general fund millage rate to 7.761 mills, and the fire fund millage to 2.807 mills.

Cobb’s general fund millage rate has been the same since 2018, when then-Chairman Mike Boyce raised it by 1.7 mills.

According to Bill Volckmann, the county’s chief financial officer, the budget has $16.5 million in “impact items” — which affect future budgets — that the board passed in fiscal year 2024.

Chairwoman Lisa Cupid went through those impact items one by one before the board voted to pass the millage rate Tuesday.

"Just looking at numbers on a page truly don't make sense, but if you have an opportunity to see what is tied to those numbers, there may be some clarity," Cupid said. "... These are decisions that commissioners voted on during the year. I would concede that most of these decisions were made by the majority of the board and not the whole board."

Included in those items is a step-and-grade plan totaling $8.4 million for public safety personnel that the board passed in May, one of the two biggest items on that list.

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