Thirty-one Roswell residents filled City Hall on Monday, Sept. 21, to push back against a proposed property tax rate that would raise bills for every homeowner in the city.

The Roswell City Council held a special public hearing on the proposed 5.9-mill rate for tax year 2026, up from the current 4.949 mills. For the owner of a $500,000 home, the increase would add roughly $190 a year to the city property tax bill before exemptions, Appen Media first reported.

Most residents who spoke opposed the hike. The council itself is split, with Council Members Allen Sells and Christine Hall arguing the city does not need the extra revenue and Council Member Sarah Beeson defending the proposal.

The council is scheduled to vote on the rate Monday, Sept. 28.

Council divided

Sells accused city officials of using procedural talk to confuse residents. He said the city had $40.6 million in reserves as of June 30 and called the proposed rate a "slush fund" with no connection to the 2026 budget.

"They are trying to bamboozle us with process," Sells said at the hearing.

Hall agreed, saying the city is running ahead on revenues and better than expected on expenses. She said the city could end the fiscal year with $5 million left over for capital projects without raising the rate.

Beeson pushed back. She said the capital projects on the city's needs list were discussed in fiscal year 2025 and provided to former Mayor Kurt Wilson, but leaders deferred them to avoid a tax increase during an election year.

$18.4 million in capital needs

Finance Director Adam Novotney presented a capital needs list totaling more than $23.4 million. After subtracting a potential $5 million fund balance surplus, the remaining $18.4 million equals about 2.5 mills.

Novotney also explained that the tax digest Fulton County sent the city Sept. 14 shows Roswell's rollback rate is just over 4.1 mills, higher than the current operating rate of 4.049 mills. That means keeping the current rate would actually bring in less revenue than last year.

He said the city could cover 2026 operating costs by holding the operating rate at 4.049 mills and raising only the debt service portion to 1.183 mills. But he could not guarantee $5 million would remain at year's end for capital projects.

Residents speak out

Resident Stephan Lewis called it disappointing and disingenuous that Mayor Mary Robichaux allowed council members to speak before residents. Lewis said he and other residents waited an hour and 35 minutes before being allowed to address the council.

Resident Jason Yowell questioned whether the increase was a political move, saying the city was pulling future projects into the 2026 budget to justify the higher rate.

One resident, Courtney Rozear, spoke in favor of the 5.9-mill rate, saying the city's history of tax cuts does not equal fiscal conservatism and that residents should be concerned about city debt.

At a Sept. 16 town hall, Mayor Robichaux acknowledged the tax increase but said she did not think it was realistic for the city to continue without one, as reported by WSB-TV.

What's next

The 5.9-mill rate was already scaled back from an original proposal of 7.732 mills at the council's Sept. 14 meeting, when the council voted 4-2 to set 5.9 mills as the starting point. Sells and Hall voted against; Council Members Jennifer Phillippi, Beeson, Eren Brumley and Chris Zack voted in favor.

If the council postpones the Sept. 28 vote to Oct. 13, the city would have to readvertise the public hearings. Novotney warned that timeline would leave no room for error, with tax bills needing to go out within a week and a half after the vote. The city expects to mail tax bills in mid-October, with payment due 60 days later.