The Cobb County Board of Commissioners on Tuesday kept its property tax rate steady in lieu of a rollback, and approved a $1.28 billion budget for the next fiscal year in a party-line vote.
Keeping the tax rate the same will result in more revenue due to increases in home values. That will help cover a 6.3% spending increase from this year’s budget. The next fiscal year begins Oct. 1.
The budget increase will go toward full-time positions that had been vacant and are now filled, along with increased pay for police officers, sheriff’s deputies and firefighters. The county filled a net total of 76 full-time positions between April 2023 and April of this year, but still has considerable vacancies hampering public safety departments.
Property values in Cobb increased again in 2024, albeit at a slower rate than in prior years immediately after the pandemic. Many residents attended the meeting to speak against the incremental increase some will face.
Last year, the county tax assessor’s office adjusted values for over 175,000 residential properties, more than they ever have, chief tax assessor Stephen White said earlier this year. Fewer properties this year, 140,000, will see a change in values. State law requires that tax assessors maintain a property’s fair market value to reflect property sale prices.
For general fund taxes, the county also has a floating homestead exemption for residential homeowners, locked in at the rate from the year the house was purchased. Under the exemption, each time the property value is increased, the owner does not pay a higher county general fund tax solely as a result of a reassessment, according to the tax assessor’s website.
The Democratic majority on the board approved the budget and millage rate while Republicans signaled their disapproval with two votes against both items.
“We do need to work on our process to see what’s not efficient,” said Republican Commissioner JoAnn Birrell.
Chairwoman Lisa Cupid said Cobb residents like living in the county, in part, because of the amenities and services it provides.
“Every dollar that we provide, there’s a public sentiment attached to it,” Cupid said.
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