One chance to sound off on tax rate

Any Fulton County residents who want to publicly sound off to elected officials about a possible 5 percent property tax rate hike will have just one shot at it, at Wednesday's commission meeting. Since the proposed new rate is estimated to bring in the same amount of revenue as last year, compensating for declining property values, state law requires just one public hearing, right before the vote.

Adding 0.51 mills to the tax rate would translate to an extra $36 on a $250,000 home with a homestead exemption. The meeting starts at 10 a.m. in the Government Center's Assembly Hall, 141 Pryor St., S.W., downtown Atlanta.