Cobb Board approves 2024 budget that keeps property tax rate level

Rising property values accounted for a 15.7% jump in the county tax digest before exemptions, according to the county tax assessor’s office. The board’s decision to not lower the millage rate will amount to a property tax increase for some because of increased property values.

Cobb County approved a general fund millage rate of 8.46 mills, which has stayed the same since 2018 when it increased from 6.76 mills. A mill is $1 of tax for every $1,000 of assessed value in a property.

While some will see an increase in their property taxes, many property owners are eligible for the floating homestead exemption that prevents the property tax paid to the county’s general fund from increasing with reassessments. The general fund pays for most county services and salaries.

Properties that are not primary residences, however, are not eligible for homestead exemptions, meaning those who will face the highest tax hike include landlords and commercial property owners.

The majority of property taxes will be funneled to the Cobb County School Board, which lowered its tax rate slightly, but still will see an increase in revenue due to the rising property values. The county does offer a school tax exemption for those over age 62.

Cobb’s budget is created in a two-year cycle, so the budget for fiscal year 2024 beginning in October largely replicates last year’s budget with some changes that amount to a $44 million increase in the total expenses. Officials cited inflation and rising operational costs as major reasons for the increase.

“None of these decisions were easy,” Chairwoman Lisa Cupid said. “We had several departments that told us real need — real need that they have — that is going unmet.”

With last year’s budget, commissioners aimed to rebuild depleted county government departments after the pandemic left them with hundreds of vacancies. The raises, bonuses and other incentives they implemented, however, did little to fix the staffing crisis the county still faces nearly a year later. An Atlanta Journal-Constitution review found that Cobb County’s population has vastly outgrown the size of county government staff.

Republican Commissioners Keli Gambrill and JoAnn Birrell proposed rolling back the millage rate to be tax-neutral, which was voted down by the board’s Democrat majority.

“Cobb has always been the county that other counties looked up to, but we are going in a downward spiral that needs to stop,” Birrell said.

The board ultimately voted along party lines to approve the budget with the same millage rate.