The Richmond County School District announced plans Tuesday to increase property taxes by more than 10%.
The proposed millage rate, used to calculate next month’s property tax bills, is the maximum allowed under Augusta’s tax cap, at 16.493 mills.
“Homeowners will have a decrease in their property taxes if they did not receive a reassessment of their property values,” district Chief Financial Officer Bobby Smith wrote in a memo to school board president Charlie Walker Jr. and other members.
That sounds like good news, except most did have a reassessment, based on continued inflation and higher sales prices. Some increased in market value by 100% or more.
Chief Appraiser Scott Rountree has said homeowners will be shocked after Augusta completed its first countywide reassessment since around 2009.
The Augusta Commission voted last week to adopt a “rollback” rate that may lower taxes for some but still gives the local government an extra $2 million to spend.
The school district also plans to adopt a rollback rate – it has to, to not exceed the tax cap – that will trim between 48 cents to $27 from the tax bills of homes valued from $25,000 to $700,000, according to a chart from the district. The homes must be owner-occupied and signed up for a homestead exemption.
Homeowners will receive one other bit of relief from the one-time 2023 property tax relief grant signed into law by Gov. Brian Kemp. For homesteaded properties, the grant reduces a home’s taxable value by an additional $18,000.
Richmond County also exempts seniors from all school taxes and many new industries from city taxes.
According to a school district presentation, the tax rate will be the sixth in eight years to be lower than the prior year’s rate and the fourth set at the cap, which is recalculated each year.
According to the district, the reassessments and any new growth added $1.3 billion to Augusta’s tax digest, which is the total value of all taxable property. The new rate when levied would raise more than $14 million in new funds.
For Georgia schools, digest growth also means reductions in the amount of a state equalization grant intended to help poorer Georgia school systems.
The increase will help cover what Smith said is increasing health insurance costs, $2.6 million in step increases for employees, $6.2 million in certified pay increases and adding elementary school receptionists.
State law requires the district to hold three public hearings on the increase. They are planned for noon and 6 p.m. Aug. 22 and 5:30 p.m. Aug. 29.
