Fayette County BOE begins millage rate hearings

The Fayette County Board of Education held the first two of its three required millage rate hearings on Monday, via its website’s livestream. As presented by Chief Financial Officer Tom Gray, the proposed millage rate for the coming year is 19.150 mills for maintenance and operations, a decrease of 0.1 mills from last year but 0.496 mills above the rollback rate. The planned millage rate for bond debt will be 1.180 mills, which is slightly lower than last year.

The changes will result in a property tax increase of $63.49 for average homestead properties valued at $325,000, or $54.56 more for non-homestead properties valued at $275,000. Gray said overall tax revenue has been affected by an increase in homestead exemptions and a significant decrease in motor vehicle taxes.

The school system’s approved budget for FY2021 is $228.5 million, which includes the use of $10 million in cash reserves. The third and final millage rate hearing will be held at 6 p.m. on Aug. 24, just before the BOE’s regular meeting at 7 p.m. when the board will vote on the measure. Full details are at www.fcboe.org.