Sandy Springs Schedules Hearings On Property Tax Hike

SANDY SPRINGS, GA —The city of Sandy Springs will hold three public hearings to allow you a chance to provide feedback on its millage rate.

While the millage rate of 4.731 is set in Sandy Springs' charter and has not changed since incorporation, the expected rise in assessments requires the City Council to announce its intention to raise property taxes it will levy this year by 6.29 percent over the rollback rate.

Each year, the board of tax assessors is required to review the assessed value for property tax purposes of taxable property in the county. When the trend of prices on properties that have recently sold in the county indicates there has been an increase in the fair market value of any specific property, the Board of Tax Assessors is required by law to re-determine the value of such property and adjust the assessment. This is called a reassessment.

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 digest that last year's millage rate would have produced had no reassessments occurred.

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The fiscal year 2019 budget tentatively adopted by the Sandy Springs Mayor and City Council requires a millage rate higher than the rollback millage rate; therefore, before the city can finalize the tentative budget and set a final millage rate, Georgia law requires three public hearings to be held to allow the public an opportunity to express their opinions on the increase.

Concerned citizens are invited to attend hearings scheduled for 6 p.m. Aug. 7 and 7:3o a.m. and 6 p.m. Aug. 21 at Sandy Springs City Hall at 1 Galambos Way.

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