After months of budget uncertainty, the Atlanta Board of Education set a millage rate for the current fiscal year of 21.74 mills.

The board held a final public hearing Thursday before unanimously voting to approve the fiscal year 2018 rate.

The rate reflects an increase due to reassessments of about .098 of a mill, according to numbers provided to the board earlier this month.

The district must calculate a rollback millage rate, or the amount of the previous year's rate minus the millage equivalent without increases from inflation and reassessments.

The district can either rollback the rate to cancel out the added value or it can advertise a property tax increase and hold hearings, the option officials chose, though the  total levy remains the same as last year.

The district reported earlier this month that the increase will cost the owner of a home with a fair market value of $300,000 about $8.82. The owner of a non-homestead property with a fair market value of $600,000 will pay a tax increase of about $23.52

Officials projected a budget shortfall of up to $18 million after Fulton County mostly froze property values. Residential and commercial growth increases came in better than expected and closed the gap to about $4 million.

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