Paulding County school leaders present 17.675 millage proposal and hear residents’ concerns over taxes, growth

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 homeowner’s tax bill, so a household can see a higher bill even when a board keeps the millage rate unchanged. Board members and staff repeatedly told the room that the board was not proposing any increase to the M&O millage rate itself; residents said they remain concerned about rising bills and local infrastructure needs.

Thesma summarized the district’s revenue picture and several measures cited by district staff. She said the district’s net M&O digest is projected to increase about 4.1 percent to roughly $8.8 billion and that exemptions have grown 9.5 percent to about $2.0 billion — about 19 percent of the gross digest and the highest exemption share in 20 years. The presenter also said Paulding ranks among Georgia’s fastest-growing, lower-wealth large school districts and reported that local revenue per pupil is about 23 percent lower than the statewide average, a differential the district described as equating to a $47,600,000 shortfall compared with the average.

Board members and the superintendent discussed how state and local changes have reduced the money available to the district. One board member said the district advertised a net increase of about $6,000,000 for next year but that two large cost pressures would largely absorb that increase: a change that moved certain health insurance costs from state to local responsibility (described in the hearing as approximately $13,200,000) and a reduction in the state equalization grant (described as about $5,000,000). The same board member said those items together absorb most or all of the advertised increase; the board did not adopt a budget at the hearing.

Public commenters framed those fiscal details in household terms. Jeffrey Baird, a Paulding County resident, told the board, “To think that you wanna raise our millage rate, that's outrageous,” and said his monthly housing costs have grown more than 50 percent since he moved to the county. Shannon Price, another long-time resident, said, “Our taxes have gone up,” and warned that long-time property owners are selling parcels because they cannot afford rising bills; she linked the issue to rapid subdivision development and strained roads and schools.

Board members and staff repeatedly clarified two technical points raised during public comment: (1) the district is not proposing an increase in the M&O millage rate itself, and (2) mandatory language that appears in newspaper notices is prescribed by Georgia law and can create the impression of a proposed tax increase even when the board is advertising the existing rollback or millage rate. One board member told the room, “this board is not raising the millage rate,” and another member explained that state-mandated newspaper language drives confusion in local press reports.

No formal vote or budget adoption occurred at the hearing. The session was a public-comment and informational meeting required by state law; board members said the district will consider public input in later budget and millage-rate actions. The district invited citizens to the remaining two hearings in the series: a session at 6 p.m. on June 10 and another at 8 a.m. on June 17 at the Paulding County Board of Education office, 3236 Atlanta Highway, Dallas, Georgia.