Marietta, Ga., planning to raise property taxes

MARIETTA, Ga. — City officials are planning to increase property taxes this year by 2.95 percent over the rollback millage rate.

When the tax digest is prepared, Georgia law requires a rollback millage rate that will produce the same level of revenue on the current year’s digest that last year’s millage rate would have produced, if there were no reassessments.

City officials have tentatively adopted a millage rate equal to last year’s millage rate of 4.046.  The redevelopment bond that was passed in November 2013 for 2 mills is not included in that rate.

The budget tentatively adopted by the City Council contains a millage rate higher than the rollback millage rate. Therefore, before the City Council can finalize the tentative budget and set a final millage rate, the city must hold three public hearings.

Anyone interested in the tax hike should attend a public hearing on this tax increase. The hearings are to be held at Marietta City Hall, 205 Lawrence Street, Marietta, Georgia in the Council Chamber at 9 a.m. and and 6 p.m. on July 21, 2014, and at 9 a.m. on July 28, 2014.