The Walker County School Board is proposing a 7% increase in its share of property taxes for the fiscal year, according to the school system.
The county proposes to keep its tax rate at 14.982 per thousand for fiscal year 2025, but the system will collect more money from property taxes due to higher assessed property values this year. Because of the proposed increase, the system is legally required to hold three public meetings later this month, a county news release said.
The proposed tax increase for a home with a market value of $225,000 that is eligible for the property tax exemption would be approximately $87, the press release said.
Setting the tax rate is part of the system’s budget process. The proposed budget totals nearly $149 million, according to the district.
The first two public tax delegation meetings are scheduled for Aug. 22 at 11 a.m. and 5 p.m. at the Walker County Department of Education, 301 N. Cherokee St. in LaFayette. The third meeting is scheduled for Aug. 29 at 6 p.m. at the Advancing Education Center, 925 Osburn Road in Chickamauga.
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Rock Spring resident Gary Rowlls said the school board’s plan takes advantage of inflated housing prices to increase their revenue beyond what he believes is realistic. In a Facebook message, he said it would be an additional financial burden on homeowners at a time of high inflation.
“My property taxes have doubled in the last five years, with the majority of that coming from school taxes,” Rowlls said.
He said he would like to know where the additional revenue went and what the school system was doing to reduce expenses.
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Walker County Superintendent Damon Raines spoke about the district’s proposed budget in a planning session recorded online in June. He said the school system has lowered its tax rate over the past two years to offset some of the increases in the district’s assessed property values.
If the system were to roll back the full tax rate cut this year, the tax rate would be less than 14 per thousand, Raines said. That would mean the district would lose funding from the state for less affluent districts, he said, a funding mechanism called equalization.
By completely reducing the millage rate, the school system’s property tax revenues remain at the previous year’s level and no public meetings are required.
“The law says if your tax rate and your effective tax rate go below 14, you lose your offset,” he said. “And you know, this year our offset is over $12 million.”
All school systems are required to allocate five per thousand to the state for compensation, Raines said, and those funds are reallocated to school districts based on the value of the district’s real estate assets.
Contact Andrew Wilkins at [email protected] or 423-757-6659.
