Atlanta school board members to discuss budget Friday

ajc.com

The Atlanta school board’s budget commission will meet Friday, a preliminary session before the board votes on a millage rate.

Some homeowners who pay property taxes to Atlanta Public Schools have been calling for relief amid soaring Fulton County property assessments that have, in many cases, led to much higher school tax estimates.

Friday’s budget commission meeting will include a review of the tax digest, tax bill laws and multi-year budget scenarios, according to a meeting agenda.

The school board earlier this month approved an $818 million general fund budget that assumes the district will receive about 9.5 percent more in local revenue for the fiscal year that begins July 1. That’s about $52 million more than last year’s budget, when Fulton County froze residential property values.

The APS budget assumes the district will keep its millage rate at the current level -- 21.74 mills -- instead of rolling it back to the rate at which the district would not receive additional money from inflation and reassessment increases. Maintaining the current rate is considered a tax increase, and the school board would have to hold a series of public hearings before adopting the 21.74-mill rate.

District officials expected to receive the final consolidated tax digest, which shows the value of property on which the district collects taxes, late last week from Fulton County. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution has requested those digest numbers, but neither the school district nor county have released them yet.

The budget commission will meet at 2 p.m. Friday at APS headquarters, 130 Trinity Ave. SW.