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Officials explain rollback rate, digest adjustments and why collections don’t match adopted budgets
Summary
Staff explained that appeals on high‑value properties and timing of the county tax digest cause a gap between the preliminary digest used to set a millage and actual collections; these factors, not an increase in the adopted budget, motivated the proposed change.
City staff used the hearing to explain technical reasons the rollback rate and preliminary digest produce different outcomes from final collections.
Kristen said the rollback rate is a theoretical figure that would maintain the same total dollars as the prior year after accounting for rising property values, but that appeals and multiple adjustments to the county digest make the process volatile. "Chamblee's rollback rate this year is 4.872 mils," she said, and staff noted the advertised 23.47% increase is measured against that rollback floor rather than the city's previously used 6.25 mills.
Staff gave an example of digest timing: the county sent a final digest for 2025 in August and then adjusted it down by about $2.5 million in November; staff said that adjustment was not provided earlier and that timing mismatches can leave the city exposed to collection shortfalls.
