FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
MEDIA CONTACT: Shannon Wolfrum, Director of Communications and Public Relations
229-225-2600
City School Board Rolls Back Property Tax Rate
THOMASVILLE, GA - The Thomasville City Board of Education has rolled back the city school property tax to 15.115 mills from the 2023 rate of 16.414 mills.
When the total digest of taxable property is prepared, Georgia Law requires that a rollback millage rate must be computed that will produce the same total revenue on the current year's new digest that last year's millage rate would have produced had no reassessments occurred.
“In setting the millage rate, the city school board was very sensitive to the impacts of inflation on household budgets this year and did not feel that this was an appropriate time for a property tax increase,” said Interim City School Superintendent Dr. Dusty Kornegay. “The board, therefore, chose to adopt the rollback rate which means that most city property owners should not see an increase in their school taxes this year.”
The adopted tax rate will generate approximately $80,000 less in local revenue than the system’s budget anticipated. “With careful management of the budget, we could probably close that gap,” said School System Chief Financial Officer Stella Smith.
“The system’s budget was built with the goal to avoid a tax increase this year,” said Kornegay. “In order to balance its budget without the need for a tax increase, the school district cut expenses where possible to offset increased operating costs and utilized approximately $1.8 million in fund reserves.”
Board Chair Britney Glass stated, “On behalf of the Thomasville City Board of Education, we remain committed to maintaining fiscal responsibility while ensuring that our schools continue to provide the highest quality education. Adopting the roll-back rate allows us to ease the burden on our community while still supporting essential programs and services for our students' success.
CFO Stella Smith stated, "I'm a firm believer that school districts should be good stewards of taxpayer dollars while maintaining expectations of academic excellence for our students. I am fully committed to maximizing funding for our district in ways other than raising the millage rate. Entering my twenty third year in Georgia school finance, I want to earn the taxpayers' trust that we are providing a quality education while utilizing all funding available to us before considering a tax increase."