The Habersham County Board of Education (BOE) will hold the first two of three millage rate public hearings on Monday, July 15, to receive public comments about the tentative property tax increase.
The first public hearing will be held Monday at 11:30 a.m. and the second public hearing will be held at 5:30 p.m. Both public hearings will be held in the Habersham County Board of Education Meeting Room at 144 Holcomb Street in Clarkesville.
SEE RELATED: Habersham County BOE receives final budget; millage rate to remain the same
The public hearings are required by state law due to the BOE not rolling back the millage rate which is a property tax increase. The millage rate will stay the same rate as last year at 10.354 mills.
According to the advertisement on the Habersham County Board of Education website, the BOE will use the property tax increase to fund a match to the Governor’s $2,500 raise for teachers and a 4.1% salary increase for classified employees. It will pay to retain 46 employees that were funded by a federal grant during COVID. The grant will conclude in September. It will also pay for the employer portion of the health insurance for employees that increased by 32%.
Tax increase
The tentative increase will result in a millage rate of 10.354, an increase of 1.279 mills. Without this tentative tax increase, the millage rate would be no more than 9.075 mills.
The proposed tax increase for a non-homestead property with a fair market value of $100,000 is approximately $51.16 and the proposed tax increase for a non-homestead property with a fair market value of $300,000 is approximately $153.48.
The third and final millage rate public hearing will be Monday, July 22 at 6 p.m. It will also be held in the Habersham County Board of Education Meeting Room at 144 Holcomb Street in Clarkesville.
