Clayton County Board of Commissioners Millage Rate Hearing – February 12, 2026

The Board of Commissioners convened the 11 a.m. session of a millage rate hearing to receive public comment on a proposed 18.5-mill property tax rate. Deputy Finance Officer Angela Jackson presented the rate and financial background, and residents asked clarifying questions or voiced concerns about affordability, especially for retirees. No millage vote was taken at this hearing. Note: the attached agenda and transcript are labeled September 5, 2024, while the supplied meeting timestamp says February 12, 2026; this summary uses the supplied date.

Consent Calendar

• A motion to adopt the agenda was made, seconded by Commissioner Davis, and passed unanimously.
• No other routine consent items were listed or acted on.

Public Comments & Testimony

• Lisa Gonzales (Rivers Edge) said the presentation was fast and used jargon she did not understand. She asked for clarification of the difference between a tax increase and a millage rate increase, and of the rollback rate.
• Andrews Williams (1105 Beinga Court) asked what happens after a three-year assessment freeze entered after an erroneous basement assessment; board members said assessments are handled by the tax assessor, and the freeze remains in place until a new assessment is done. He later asked whether the $109,000 military exemption would increase; Mr. Stanford noted pending federal legislation to raise it had not passed.
• Rose Jackson (Rivers Edge), a retiree, said she is not receiving income increases and is worried about being able to stay in her home. She asked the board to care about older retirees and to think outside the box about investors and revenue. The chairman said the board is concerned, is looking at senior tax relief, and is working with the COO on creative relief options.

Discussion Items

• Jackson explained that the millage hearings were being redone because the original advertisements in the Clayton News were too small; nothing had changed since the first three hearings.
• According to her presentation, the millage calendar included an August 28 advertisement, September 5 hearings at 11 a.m. and 6 p.m., an additional hearing on September 17, and adoption on September 18.
• She described a “perfect storm”: expenses increased, revenues decreased, new state mandates included a new ethics board and salary increases for some elected officials not including the Board of Commissioners, and public utility tax revenue dropped from $15.1 million to $7 million.
• Departmental spending requests totaled $383.7 million, forecast revenue was $284 million, leaving a $99 million gap; department budgets were reduced by $66.8 million.
• Jackson said taxes were not increasing 31%; the advertised 31% was the increase over the rollback rate. Last year’s millage was 16 mills; the proposed rate was 18.5 mills. Net millage would go from 12.360 to 15.266. She defined the rollback rate as the rate that would produce the same revenue on the current digest as last year’s rate if no reassessments had occurred.
• She initially cited an average business value of $350,000 with an annual increase of $406.84 ($33.90 per month) and a $250,000 home with an annual increase of $290.60 ($24.22 per month). Later, in response to a resident, she said a $250,000 home would increase $261.54 annually ($21.80 per month) and a $100,000 home would increase $87.18 annually ($7.27 per month). The transcript does not reconcile the two different $250,000-home figures.

Key Outcomes

• No vote was taken on the proposed millage rate at this hearing; it was held for public comment.
• According to the presented calendar, an additional hearing and formal adoption were still to come; those dates in the materials were September 17 and September 18.
• The chairman indicated the board would pursue senior tax relief and more creative relief/revenue ideas.
• A motion to adjourn was made, seconded, and passed unanimously.