The Clayton County Board of Education will hold its final public hearing on the proposed millage rate for fiscal year 2023 tonight, Monday, August 22, promptly at 6 p.m. The hearing will take place at 1058 Fifth Avenue Jonesboro and is followed by a called meeting. The board is expected to approve the millage rate, then enter an executive session.
The board has said it will not change the existing millage rate, but that property taxes collected for county schools will go up 1.92%. The school millage rate has been at 20 mils since 2020. However, the dollar amount you actually pay varies according to housing prices, your property’s condition and location, and other factors. When home values are high, you pay more in dollars. (A millage is like a percentage, but it’s a smaller slice. It’s still a piece out of of your personal budget pie.)
If you want to see how the board plans to spend your tax dollars, you can dive into the details in the proposed 2022-2023 school budget:
Here is a presentation from tonight’s published agenda, making the case for comparing Clayton County to other school districts around metro Atlanta:
According to the Georgia Department of Education, Clayton County had the third-lowest millage rate of the six metro school systems at 20 mils. Gwinnett (19.7 mils), Cobb (18.9 mils) and Fulton County (17.59) had lower school millage rates. However, they also have more students.
As for expenses, in FY 2021, Clayton County had 52,988 students (the FTE column on slide four) of the six metro school systems. It also had the second-lowest cost per FTE at $10,148 and spent the least on instructional expenses, the least on general administration expenses, and the least on operational expenses.
