The Atlanta Board of Education agreed to partially roll back the property tax rate, a move that amounts to a 5% increase because of rising property values.

The board voted Monday to set the millage rate at 20.5 mills, a decrease from the last fiscal year’s rate of 20.74 mills. But the new rate legally is considered a tax increase because the board did not drop it all the way to 19.522 mills, the level required to offset tax increases because of higher property valuations.

”A full roll-back would mean that we would need to cut our revenue projections by about $31 million,” the district states in a budget presentation.

The owner of a $325,000 home with a homestead exemption will pay an estimated $37 more a year than if the rate had been lowered all the way to 19.522 mills, according to APS.

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Wade Roberts (center), a Decatur parent with children in three of the city schools, addresses concerns  with the possibility of a K-2 school closing. (Daniel Varnado for the AJC)

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Rose Scott signals as Closer Look goes on air in the WABE studio. An Atlanta resident left WABE a $3 million donation, a boost after WABE lost $1.9 million in annual funding from the Corporation of Public Broadcasting. (Ben Gray / AJC file)

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