Although the Gwinnett County Board of Education proposed a lower millage rate when it adopted its Fiscal Year 2020 Budget last month, some residents may see an increase in property taxes. If property value has increased, the landowners taxes may increase event though the millage rate will be lowered.
During the budget-setting process, the Board indicated that the adopted budget would not require an increase in the millage rate. However, with projected growth in the property tax digest, the millage rate will decrease slightly.
The maintenance and operations and debt-service millage rate will be 19.70 and 1.90, respectively. This is down from last year’s rates of 19.80 and 1.95, respectively.
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Funds generated by the M&O millage pay for the day-to-day operations of the school system, including employee salaries, instructional materials, student transportation, and school utility costs. The debt-service millage is used to pay down the School Board’s long-term debt from bond referenda passed over the years to pay for school construction.
Although the proposed millage rate is being lowered, the district must advertise it as a property tax increase. By state law, local taxing authorities, such as the Board of Education, must either keep their tax collections revenue-neutral (by decreasing the millage rate to offset the gained taxes from property value updates) due to the higher value of property in the county or announce a tax increase (even though the actual millage rate isn’t increasing). Taxpayers whose property has not been assigned a higher value through reassessments this year will not see an increase in their school taxes.
As required by law, the Gwinnett County Board of Education will hold three public hearings as part of its process for setting the millage.
The first will be held at 6 p.m. on Tuesday, July 2 in the Board Room at the J. Alvin Wilbanks Instructional Support Center, 437 Old Peachtree Road NW in Suwanee.
The second will be at 11:45 a.m. on July 9 the third at 6 p.m. on July 9, both occurring in the Board Room at the ISC.
A copy of the adopted budget is available for public review on the school system's website at www.gwinnett.k12.ga.us
Information: 678-301-6210.
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