Atlanta school taxes remain the same

The Atlanta Board of Education on Monday approved property tax rates for the 2013-2014 school year that are identical to existing levies.

The board voted 5-0 for a tax of 21.64 mills on property within the city of Atlanta for the general operation of the school system. An additional 0.1 mill tax will go toward bond payments.

The taxes will help support a $592 million budget that was tentatively approved earlier this month.

Because anticipated revenue fell short of planned spending, the Board of Education voted to use $21.5 million from reserve funds, furlough employees for three days, eliminate a 3 percent salary bonus and sell unused property.

The budget preserves class sizes that are similar to last school year, despite complaints from board members who wanted to cut central office administration spending in order to hire more teachers.

The budget calls for spending about $12 million more than it did in the 2012-2013 school year, in large part because of increases in health care costs and pension liability payments.