Homestead exemption explained

Mike Boyce, the Chairman of the Cobb County Board of Commissioners, and Stephen White, the Director of the Cobb County Tax Assessor’s Office, released a video Sunday afternoon explaining the way the homestead exemption affects taxes flowing into the general fund. They did a breakdown of a sample tax bill in which the valuation of the property went up, the total tax bill went up, but the amount the taxpayer paid toward the general fund went down.

The video is part of a series of presentations prepared by Boyce and the county’s staff in preparation for the expected 1.7 mill tax increase. Other videos have included one on the state-mandated tax increase ads, which Boyce argues create an inflated picture of the percentage of the increase, and Cobb’s Budget Journey, a video presentation of his talk at the town hall meetings across the county, outlining the reasons he thinks the millage rate increase is necessary.

The latest presentation is entitled “Cobb’s Tax Assessor Explains (the confusing) Homestead Exemption!” and the five minute and forty-three-second video is worth watching if you want to learn how the homestead exemption affects the Cobb County general fund.

Watch the embedded video below

What’s happening before the millage increase vote?

The last remaining town hall will be held July 9, 7 p.m. at the Sewell Mill Library, 2051 Lower Roswell Rd, Marietta, GA 30068, followed by three state-mandated hearings.

Cobb Millage Rate Increase Hearing Schedule

Under Georgia law, counties are required to calculate a “rollback” millage rate after property reassessments are done and the total digest of taxable property for the year is prepared.  “Millage” is the amount per $1,000 of the taxable value of a property used to calculate how much the property owner owes in taxes.  The “rollback” millage rate is the hypothetical rate at which the taxation under the newly prepared tax digest would produce the same total tax revenue as the previous year.  If the county proposes a millage rate higher than the rollback rate, three public hearings are required so the public can give its opinion on the tax increase.

These hearings will be in the Board of Commissioners room on the second floor of 100 Cherokee Street Marietta, GA 30090

• Tuesday, July 10 at 9 a.m.
• Tuesday, July 17 at 6:30 p.m.
• Wednesday, July 25 at 7 p.m.

Public comments are allowed at the millage rate hearings. Cobb County GIS has prepared a presentation on the budget available here.