Laurens County school board sets tax increase hearings

The Laurens County Board of Education announced its plans to raise the property tax it will levy this year by 2.8 percent over the rollback millage rate.

According to school officials, the budget adopted by the LCBOE requires a millage rate higher than the rollback millage rate, but before it can set a final millage rate, Georgia law requires three public hearings to be held, allowing the public an opportunity to express their opinions on the increase.

People are invited to public hearings on this tax increase which will be held at the LCBOE, 467 Firetower Road, at 6 p.m. on Sept. 8 and at 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. on Sept. 17 

“We have to have three hearings to set the millage rate,” said Laurens County Superintendent O.J. Hall. “They have to take place at certain times to ensure you are having them at times so that multiple facets of the community will be able to come hear it.”

According to news release from the LCBOE, 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 that property and adjust the assessment, which is called a reassessment.

“When the total digest of taxable property is prepared, Georgia law requires a rollback millage rate 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 reassessment occurred,” the release said. 

Hall said he does not believe the board will increase the actual millage rate, which was set last year at 14 mills. Despite this, the board will be bringing in more revenue, which is technically a tax increase, Hall said, and the reason for the three meetings where Laurens County Finance Director Mary McCollough will have a presentation about the tax increase.

“We are not dropping the millage rate to the point of bringing in the exact amount of money that we brought in last year,” Hall said.