Atlanta staff proposes slight cut to total millage; residents urge more funding for pedestrian safety and services

Mohammed Bala, chief financial officer for the City of Atlanta, presented a proposed fiscal year 2026 millage structure at a council public hearing, saying the plan would reduce the city’s total millage rate from 11.40 mills to 11.37 mills while reallocating bond-levy savings to the operating levy.

“The proposed millage rate presented represents a modest net decrease from the current total millage rate of 11 and 40 mills to 11 and 37 mills for FY '26,” Bala said, adding that the proposal “allows property tax exemptions to cover a larger part of the tax bill for homeowners.” Bala described the change as a “reduction of 1 and 3 mills to the bond levy offsetting the 1 mill increase to the operating levy and the park levy remaining at 1 mill.” He also said the presentation would keep the special service district levy for the Atlanta BeltLine Commercial Corridor at 2 mills and would introduce a 2-mill special service district levy to support a newly named project presented at the hearing.

The presentation was delivered at a formal public hearing limited to the millage topic, which officials said must follow state law. Howard Shook, chair of the Atlanta City Council finance committee, declared the hearing closed after the Finance Department’s remarks and later opened the council’s annual interactive public budget hearing.

During the interactive budget hearing, one in-person speaker, Felix Rodriguez of District 5, urged council members to prioritize transportation and pedestrian-safety funding through the budget process. “I was actually hit by a car about 5 months ago,” Rodriguez said. He said the Department of Transportation lacked resources for signage and other safety measures and warned that large upcoming events increase the need to prioritize pedestrian infrastructure downtown.

An online commenter, identified as Devin Slack, urged the council to reverse a proposed nearly 20% increase in police funding and to redirect money to schools and health care. “Police already receive an unbelievable sum of money from the citizens of Atlanta. That money should be put to actual good use like investing in our school system and health care,” the comment read; it also referenced a hospital closure in the Old Fourth Ward and asserted that $50,000,000 was being directed to the police department.

Council members present for the hearings included Councilmember Marcy Collier Overstreet, Councilmember Andrea Boone and Councilmember Isha Collins; Shook said he had hoped for more public participation in person. No formal council votes on the millage were taken at the hearings; Bala’s presentation outlined the administration’s proposal and announced two additional public hearings on the proposed millage scheduled for Wednesday the 28th at noon and 6 p.m. (month not specified in the hearing record).

The presentation and public comments were recorded for the record and will be part of the council’s ongoing FY2026 budget process, which will include further hearings and eventual council action on millage rates and the budget.