Marietta School Board to Vote on Millage Rate

The Marietta Board of Education is set to vote on its 2024 millage rate after a final set of public hearings Tuesday.

Superintendent Grant Rivera has proposed keeping the millage rate flat at 17.97 mills.

The board tentatively adopted that rate, which determines how much homeowners will pay in property taxes to the school district, when it approved its 2024-25 school year budget in June.

While the tax rate would not increase under the proposal, rising home values will translate to an additional $4.9 million in tax revenue, an increase of 6.3% over last year.

The proposed tax increase for a home valued at $450,000 is approximately $225, according to the school district.

The school district’s millage rate has been flat for the past decade and is slightly lower than the neighboring Cobb County School District’s rate of 18.7 mills.

Under Georgia law, rising property value assessments not accompanied by a corresponding millage rate “rollback” that offsets the increase in tax due are considered tax increases and must be advertised as such. In order to collect the same amount of property tax as last year, the school board would need to roll back the millage rate to 16.691 mills.

The MDJ polled Marietta school board members on the proposed tax increase Monday. All but one, Jaillene Hunter, said they supported the increase, though several said they’d consider a rollback in the future.

Board Chair Jeff DeJarnett said now is not the time for a rollback, and that any future tax cut must be done “very thoughtfully.”

“I think there is, there should be, and there will be time to look seriously at it,” he said. “But for the immediate future, until we can (be) sure exactly where these funds are going to come from, it’s not something that I feel like is probably the thing we need to do right now.”

Hunter was the only board member to call for a rollback of the millage rate this year.

“We’ve just recently been provided information on the digest, and I definitely have concerns over the dramatic increases in assessment that Marietta has felt in their property taxes over the last couple of years,” she said.

While she didn’t propose a specific rate reduction, Hunter said the district could lower the tax rate without sacrificing academics.

“I am absolutely in favor of reducing the millage rate while keeping academics and competitive teacher pay the priority ... I think we can do both,” Hunter said.

The tentative budget has already been approved with the proposed millage rate, said Vice Chair Jason Waters, a point several others echoed.

“I 100% recognize that property value increases have taken money out of families’ pockets, and I do want to find a way to get it back to them, to lower that in the future,” Waters said.

Angela Orange was one of several board members who said the school district needs the extra funds due to the elimination of pandemic-era federal funding that was used for literacy initiatives.

“I know we pumped a bunch of money into literacy efforts and we wanted to keep our pay competitive for our staff, so because of those reasons, I’m comfortable with the proposed budget and millage rate as is, although, I’m not opposed to looking at (lowering) it for future years,” Orange said.

Board member Kerry Minervini also said the tax increase was necessary due to federal COVID-19 funds stopping.

“Given the fact that 89% of our budget is made up of salaries and benefits for our staff, these funds are an integral part of us remaining competitive in terms of pay and benefits with other districts,” Minervini wrote to the MDJ.

Minervini also left the door open to revisit the issue next year.

“As we do every year, there will be a full review of our budget and proposed (tax) digest at the beginning of 2025. Economic conditions at that time could warrant future rollback considerations,” she wrote.

Board member Irene Berens, meanwhile, said it’s better to keep the millage flat so the district is in a healthy financial place in case the economy takes a turn for the worse.

“In keeping it the same, I think we’re doing the best job for our taxpayers, because we can take care of our student needs and still look to being good stewards in times of downturn,” Berens said.

Board member A.B. Almy said a small reduction, such as the Cobb County Board of Education’s 0.2-mill rollback last year, would only save constituents about $35.

“So I just don’t think that it seems like that is worth it, to change the millage rate, when we really haven’t changed it for many, many years,” Almy said. “So, my vote is to keep it consistent, and the same, and therefore our budget can be what we counted on it being.”

The board will hold the final two public hearings on the millage rate Tuesday, at 12 p.m. and 5:45 p.m. at its headquarters at 250 Howard St. in Marietta.

The board will convene for its regular monthly meeting at 6 p.m. Tuesday, where it will also consider approving:

♦ A $2.3 million contract with Kelly Services to provide substitute teachers and paraprofessionals;

♦ A $26,000 contracted college and career adviser for Marietta High School in partnership with the Etowah Foundation and Georgia Highlands College;

♦ An adapted curriculum that allows students with disabilities to access general education material at $36,764;

♦ A $25,000 resource for advanced math content for elementary students grades 3-5;

♦ A $25,000 contract for an architectural plan for an outdoor learning space at Marietta High School;

♦ Replacement football uniforms for Marietta Middle School at $26,255.