Smyrna proposes no millage increase for 14th year

Smyrna residents should not expect to see a millage rate increase for the fourteenth year when the Fiscal Year 2020 budget takes effect July 1 to June 30, 2020. AJC file photo

Smyrna residents should not expect to see a millage rate increase for the fourteenth year when the Fiscal Year 2020 budget takes effect July 1 to June 30, 2020. AJC file photo

For the fourteenth consecutive year, Smyrna officials are proposing to keep the millage rate at 8.99 mills.

A public hearing will be held at 7 p.m. May 20 on the Smyrna Fiscal Year 2020 budget in the Council Chambers, City Hall, 2800 King St. SE, Smyrna.

Smyrna City Council members are expected to vote on the proposed budget during their 7 p.m. on June 3.

Hard copies of the 394-page proposed budget are available for review in the City Clerk’s office at City Hall and at the Circulation desk in the Smyrna Public Library, 100 Village Green Circle, Smyrna.

Totaling $92,215,688, the proposed budget for Fiscal Year 2020 refers to July 1, 2019 to June 30, 2020.

Property taxes remain the city’s largest source of revenue with a projected 8.3 percent increase that is driven by new development and re-valuations by the Cobb County Tax Assessor, according to Smyrna City Administrator Tammi Saddler Jones and Smyrna Finance Director Kristin Robinson in a June 3 memo to Smyrna Mayor Max Bacon and the Council.

In most cases, residents with the Smyrna Floating Homestead Exemption will not see an increase, they added.

Rating agency Standard & Poor’s gives Smyrna its highest rating of AAA with a stable outlook, they added.

Each month the city’s Finance Department updates the financial data published on the city’s website where the Fiscal Year 2020 budget also may be viewed.

Information: SmyrnaGa.gov/financial-budget/open-data, SmyrnaGa.gov/your-government/departments/finance/annual-budget-financial-audit-reports