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Paulding County school leaders present 17.675 millage proposal and hear residents’ concerns over taxes, growth
Summary
At a public hearing on the proposed 2025 millage rate, the Paulding County Board of Education presented a tentative fiscal 2026 budget built on a 17.675 maintenance and operations millage and received public comment about rising property taxes, development pressure and confusion over state-mandated newspaper language.
The Paulding County Board of Education on Monday presented a tentative fiscal 2026 budget based on a 17.675 maintenance and operations (M&O) millage and heard residents urge relief from rising property taxes and rapid development.
Amber Thesma, a district staff member who led the budget presentation, told the hearing that the 2026 original budget as advertised includes a 17.675 M&O millage rate — the same M&O rate as the prior year — and does not include a bond millage. Thesma said that if a bond millage were required to meet FY 2026 debt-service needs it would be roughly 1.257 mills, but that the advertised budget includes no bond millage.
The public hearing was the first of three sessions mandated by Georgia law before the Board can finalize the millage rate and adopt the FY 2026 budget. Thesma also reminded property owners that assessed values are set by the Paulding County Board of Tax Assessors and that the appeals deadline for assessment notices is July 14.
Why it matters: property values set by the county, not the school board, determine an individual…
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