Is this really a property tax increase?

For the 19^th straight year, the Muscogee County School District’s administration is proposing a budget that would keep the millage rate at 23.37.

But since 2000, Georgia law requires a taxing authority to publish a “Notice of Property Tax Increase” even if the millage rate remains the same. That’s because the governing body, such as the school district, benefits from an increase in the tax digest, based on new or improved property, which is projected to be 1.5 percent in Muscogee County this year.

State law requires the board to roll back its millage rate an equivalent amount, which would be 0.053 mills. That would mean a tax break of $1.93 on a home with a fair market value of $125,000 and a reduction of $3.71 for non-homestead property with a fair market value of $175,000.

The only way keeping the millage rate at 23.37 would be an actual tax increase on a property owner is if the owner improves that property.

The rationale behind the legislation, known as the “Taxpayer Bill of Rights,” is to prevent “indirect property tax increases resulting from increases to existing property values in a county due to inflation,” according to the Georgia Department of Revenue.

Last year, three board members — John Thomas of District 2, Mark Cantrell of District 6 and Frank Myers of District 8 — tried but failed to convince the six other board members to roll back the millage rate. This year, they have three more chances to try again at the following budget hearings in the Muscogee County Public Education Center:

▪  Monday at 5 p.m.

▪  May 16 at 6 p.m.

▪  June 13 at 5 p.m.

The board is scheduled to vote on the millage rate and the district’s yet-to-be-released budget for fiscal year 2017 during its June 20 meeting, starting at 6 p.m. The district’s fiscal year starts July 1.

This story was originally published May 4, 2016 at 11:01 AM with the headline "Is this really a property tax increase?."