Roswell homeowners will pay more in school taxes after the Fulton County Board of Education voted Thursday, Aug. 20, to tentatively set the millage rate at 18.08 mills, up one mill from the 17.08 rate the district has held for two years.

It is the first proposed increase in seven years.

For a homeowner with a $450,000 home, the new rate translates to $3,254 in annual school taxes before homestead exemptions, based on Georgia's 40% assessment ratio. That works out to $18.08 per $1,000 of assessed value. The district has posted a tax rate calculator on its website so residents can estimate their individual impact, according to the Board Bulletin.

Superintendent Dr. Mike Looney recommended the increase at the board's meeting at the South Learning Center, telling board members the district had already wrung roughly $50 million in savings through its GLIDE cost-cutting initiative. At the Aug. 11 work session previewing the proposal, Looney called the hike "unwelcome" but necessary, according to Rough Draft Atlanta.

"If something changes in the interim … then I will gladly work with staff to reduce that increase to something less," Looney said at that work session, as reported by Appen Media.

The board must hold three public hearings before casting a final vote. Specific hearing dates have not yet been announced.

Why the increase

The nearly 90,000-student district adopted a $2.3 billion budget in June carrying a roughly $57 million deficit, with plans to draw down about 20 percent of reserves to cover the gap. Chief Financial Officer Marvin Dereef projected reserves would still exceed $233 million by the end of fiscal year 2027, but district models show that without the rate increase, reserves would eventually fall below the board's minimum policy threshold.

If approved, the higher rate would also allow the district to eliminate a proposed employee furlough day for the current school year and provide greater flexibility for future salary increases.

More than 60 percent of the school system's budget depends on local property tax revenue. That revenue stream took a hit after Fulton County voters last year approved two homestead exemptions for older residents, projected to cost the district roughly $50 million.

Even at 18.08 mills, Fulton County Schools would remain below neighboring districts. DeKalb County recently approved 22.78 mills, and Cobb County tentatively adopted 18.70 mills.

What's still unresolved

The district does not yet have a certified tax digest from Fulton County, a prerequisite for setting the final rate. A dispute between the county tax assessor and tax commissioner forced a judge to authorize temporary tax bills, which were mailed Aug. 15 based on 2025 millage rates. Revised bills or refunds will follow once final rates are set.

Other board action

The board also approved a new artificial intelligence policy requiring human oversight of district-approved AI tools and revised its graduation requirements policy to remove references to specific cohorts, archiving historical regulations without changing current requirements. Lauren Malekebu was approved as the district's new executive director of operational planning.

The three public hearings on the millage rate will be the next opportunity for Roswell residents to weigh in before the board's final vote.