Smyrna holds public hearing on 8.99 millage rate; city says homesteads not affected

Smyrna held a special-called public hearing at 8:00 a.m. July 15 on the proposed fiscal year 2025 millage rate of 8.99 mills; no vote was taken at the morning session. City administrator Joe Bennett read the budget assumptions and notices, and staff said the formal adoption is scheduled for July 22 at the 6:00 p.m. meeting.

City administrator Joe Bennett said the FY25 budget approved by council included revenue projections based on 8.99 mills and that, under the county’s assessment figures, a rollback to 8.244 mills would be required to avoid advertising a tax increase. "This is the second of three required public hearings before the formal adoption of the 8.99 millage rate," Bennett said, noting notices ran in the Marietta Daily Journal and on the city website.

Deputy Administrator Kristen Robinson explained why the city must advertise an increase even when the millage rate remains unchanged. "The state law requires…that we advertise an increase if we keep the millage rate the same because assessed values have gone up, and so we will be collecting more revenue," Robinson said. She added that homestead exemptions mean "anyone who has their homestead exemption will not see a tax increase for the city of Smyrna." Robinson and council members stated the increased collections mostly affect non-homesteaded and commercial properties.

During public comment, Stephanie Siegel of Oakdale Courts said tenants could face an "effective" increase she described as about 9% and criticized the city's outreach. "I think those people would want to know, particularly tenants who cannot probably afford an increase," Siegel said, and added that the millage hearing had not appeared on the city's recent Facebook posts, event page or lighted sign. The Mayor responded that the city clerk had posted required information in the newspaper, online and elsewhere, and said the council would hold another hearing that evening.

Charles Phillips of Isling Way asked how the rollback figure is calculated and why the council planned to keep 8.99 when the rollback figure was lower; council members reiterated that the county’s assessments drive the rollback calculation and that the majority of Smyrna homes have homestead exemptions (a council member estimated about 8,000 exemptions). "We're proposing to leave the same at 8.99 that it's been for the past 17 years," a staff member said.

Next steps: this was the second of three required hearings; the next public hearing was scheduled for the evening of July 15 and the formal adoption of the millage rate was listed on the agenda for the July 22 special called Mayor and Council meeting.