Bibb school board makes decision about property tax rate

The Bibb County school district plans to drop the property tax rate a tad this year.

The Board of Education tentatively approved a slight decrease in the millage rate from 19.945 to 19.814 at a called meeting Monday night. The board raised the rate 2 mills last year.

A public hearing is scheduled for 6 p.m. on Aug. 15, followed by a final vote at 6:15 p.m. The millage rate was “rolled back” to reflect increases in the latest tax digest, said Ron Collier, the district’s chief financial officer. The district is not looking to raise rates anytime in the near future.

Bibb residents are facing increases elsewhere, though. In June, the Macon-Bibb County Commission tentatively approved raising its rate 3 mills to 17.652 mills, although public hearings and a vote must be held in August before its finalized. That hike would amount to about $99 more for property valued at $100,000.

Property tax bills will be mailed to Bibb County residents by Sept. 15, with the first half of payments due by Oct. 16 and second half by Nov. 15, according to a report from the school board.

Houston County also decreased its millage rates slightly this year too due to a slight increase in the county’s tax digest as a whole, said Stephen Thublin, the school system’s assistant superintendent for finance and business operations.

The County Commission recently dropped its rate from 9.95 to 9.935 mills, and the school system from 13.34 to 13.32. That amounts to a savings of just a dollar or two for property valued at $100,000, “but it’s still a savings,” Thublin said.

It was Houston County’s first positive reassessment in 11 years — and the first time the school board has changed property tax rates in nine years, said Thublin, who added that he wouldn’t be surprised if the millage rate goes down again next year.

At the called meeting Monday, Bibb school board members also approved a $290,408 purchase order for the Accelerated Reader/Accelerated Math computer software program for the upcoming school year.

Information from The Telegraph archives was used in this report.

This story was originally published July 31, 2017 at 6:48 PM with the headline "Bibb school board makes decision about property tax rate."