School Board To Hold Hearings On Proposed Millage Rate

Oconee County citizens get the first two of three opportunities on Monday to tell the members of the Board of Education how they feel about the Board’s decision not to reduce the school property tax rate despite the increased assessed value of county properties.

The Board voted earlier this year to use some of the increased tax revenue from the growing tax digest to offer a one-time $1,250 bonus to all employees and an additional permanent increase of $1 per hour for custodial staff, bus drivers, and school nutrition workers.

The Oconee County Board of Commissioners, by contrast, decided to make a very slight cut in the county’s millage rate.

The two hearings scheduled by the Board of Education for Monday and the one scheduled for July 26 are required by state law.

Officially, the decision to hold the millage rate steady at 16.5 is a tax increase, as the Board of Education could have reduced that rate to 15.618 to keep taxes flat.

Few people usually show up for these tax rate hearings, and the Board already has adopted a budget for the Fiscal Year that started on July 1 based on the 16.5 millage rate.

The first hearing is at 9 a.m. and the second is at 5:30 p.m. Monday in the Board Room at 34 School Street in Watkinsville. The final hearing is at 6 p.m. on July 26 at the same location.

For more on this story, please go to Oconee County Observations.