The Cobb County Board of Commissioners scheduled three public hearings about the proposed property tax increase. The dates are Tuesday, July 9, 2024, at 9:00 a.m., Tuesday, July 16, 2024, at 6:30 p.m. and on Tuesday, July 23, 2024, at 7:00 p.m.

All hearings will be held at the Cobb County Board of Commissioners meeting room at 100 Cherokee Street at Marietta Square.

The county distributed the following notice:

The Cobb County Board of Commissioners has tentatively adopted a millage rate which will
require an increase in property taxes by 9.01 percent.

All concerned citizens are invited to the public hearing on this tax increase to be held at the Cobb County Board of Commissioners meeting room at 100 Cherokee Street, Marietta, Georgia on Tuesday, July 9, 2024, at 9:00 a.m.

Times and places of additional public hearings on this tax increase are at the Cobb County Board of Commissioners meeting room at 100 Cherokee Street, Marietta, Georgia on Tuesday, July 16, 2024, at 6:30 p.m. and on Tuesday, July 23, 2024, at 7:00 p.m.

This tentative increase will result in a millage rate of 8.460 mills, an effective increase of 0.699
mills. Without this tentative tax increase, the millage rate will be no more than 7.761 mills.

The proposed tax increase for a home with a fair market value of $450,000.00 is approximately
$118.83 and the proposed tax increase for non-homestead property with a fair market value of
$625,000.00 is approximately $174.75.

What is the rollback rate, and what is a tax increase under Georgia law?

In its news release about the tax increase, the county describes the rollback rate as follows:

When the total digest of taxable property is prepared, Georgia law requires that a “rollback” millage rate must be computed according to specific instructions issued by the Georgia Department of Revenue. This hypothetical “rollback” millage rate would have produced the same total tax revenue on the current year’s digest that last year’s millage rate would have produced had no reassessments occurred.

The continued recovery of the Cobb real estate market is the primary reason for this modest growth in property values and this corresponding increase in the county’s property tax digest.

The 2024 proposed millage is higher than the recently computed “rollback” millage rate. Therefore, before the Cobb County Board of Commissioners may set the final 2024 millage rates, Georgia law requires that three public hearings be held to allow the public an opportunity to express their opinions on the increase.

In other words, the proposed 8.46 millage rate, despite remaining the same as in previous years, is a tax increase due to the rise in property values and the consequent expansion of the tax digest.

The tax rate is the same, but the average homeowner pays more because of an increase in the assessed value of their home.