Forsyth County Board of Education holds public hearing on proposed 2027 millage, citing 15.208 M&O rate

The Forsyth County Board of Education convened a special called meeting on July 23, 2026, at 9:13 a.m. for a public hearing on the proposed 2027 millage rate. CFO Larry Hamill presented the district's calculation and said the district is proposing a 15.208 millage rate for the maintenance and operations (M&O) levy; he also outlined additional hearings and budget-approval meetings scheduled later the same day and next week.

Hamill described the procedure behind the rollback calculation and cited a form commonly used for the estimate (PT-32-1), saying that the county assessor's digest and reassessments — which he said total about $243,000,000 in existing property in his example — drive whether the rollback rate would be lower than the current millage. "For this year, for 2026, we're proposing a 15.208 millage rate with a potential 3.3% increase in the tax digestors," Hamill said. He added the debt-service millage would shift only slightly under the same calculation (from roughly 1.418 to about 1.404).

Dr. Young cautioned that the legally required public-notice language can sound like the district is "recommending a tax hike," even when the proposed budget holds the millage steady; he said the net effect of not rolling back after reassessment can increase bills but is distinct from a board-authorized millage increase. Chairman Adams told the board he plans to keep the millage rate the same and cited recent multi-year reductions in tax burden as context for the recommendation.

The hearing closed with no members of the public signed up to speak. The board confirmed additional meetings — an evening hearing at 7:00 p.m. and a July 30 meeting at 5:00 p.m. — and will proceed to budget-approval sessions next week as scheduled.