City of Sandy Springs Sets Public Hearings on Proposed Millage Rate

The City of Sandy Springs will hold public hearings on next year’s millage rate on Tuesday, August 3, 2021 at 7:30 a.m., August 3, 2021 at 6:00 p.m., and on August 17, 2021 at 6:00 p.m. The City’s millage rate of 4.731 is set in the City’s Charter and has not changed since incorporation. The public hearings will be held at Sandy Springs City Hall, 1 Galambos Way, Sandy Springs, Ga. In announcing the public hearing dates, the City Council announces its intention to increase the property taxes it will levy this year by 3.05 percent over the rollback millage rate, which under state law is termed a tax increase, even though the tax rate is unchanged.  

Each year, the board of tax assessors is required to review the assessed value for property tax purposes of taxable property in the county.  When the trend of prices on properties that have recently sold in the county indicates there has been an increase in the fair market value of any specific property, the Board of Tax Assessors is required by law to re-determine the value of such property and adjust the assessment. This is called a reassessment.

When the total digest of taxable property is prepared, Georgia law requires that a rollback millage rate must be computed that will produce the same total revenue on the current year's digest that last year's millage rate would have produced had no reassessments occurred.

The budget tentatively adopted by the City of Sandy Springs Mayor and City Council requires a millage rate higher than the rollback millage rate; therefore, before the City of Sandy Springs may finalize the tentative budget and set a final millage rate, Georgia law requires three public hearings to be held to allow the public an opportunity to express their opinions on the increase.