Cobb County Millage and Budget Public Hearing - July 21, 2026
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Cobb County Millage and Budget Public Hearing - July 21, 2026
The Cobb County Board of Commissioners held a second public hearing on July 21, 2026, to discuss and receive public comment on the proposed millage rates for FY2027 and the proposed FY2027 county budget. CFO Buddy Tezar presented detailed information on property tax digest growth, homestead exemptions, and the $84.7 million increase in the total county budget. The public provided extensive comments on both topics, with a particular focus on property tax burdens and animal services funding.
Public Comments & Testimony (Millage Hearing)
- Rebecca Foster: Expressed that her property taxes doubled last year, causing a $300+ monthly mortgage increase, and urged against raising millage rates.
- Craig Harfoot: Warned of an economic downturn similar to 2007-2008, linked to rising energy prices and housing costs, and argued for reduced spending to lower taxes.
- Steve Hale: A long-time homeowner struggling with tripled property taxes, noted he is nearing retirement and cannot afford further increases.
- Unidentified speaker: Pleaded on behalf of those without access to the floating homestead exemption, asking for temporary relief on assessed value increases.
- Kathy Slough: Asked the board to consider all residents, especially those without exemptions, when setting millage rates.
Public Comments & Testimony (Budget Hearing)
- Debbie Fisher: Spoke on behalf of herself, requested reinstatement of a deputy director position for Cobb County Elections that was removed from the budget, and raised concerns about reclassification of 1099 employees.
- Christine Rosman: Supported the deputy director position and suggested paying board of elections members more to ensure attendance.
- Nikki Healy: Thanked the board for funding new animal services positions and encouraged adoption of community cat TNVR ordinances.
- Julius Garsega: Expressed support for additional veterinary staff, citing burnout and turnover in animal care.
- Lisa Pala Hebree: Supported veterinary positions, noting high shelter intake and the need for timely medical care.
- Kathy Slough (again): Asked to stop hiring outside consultants, supported water transfer reduction, supported elections deputy director, and thanked for animal services funding.
- Craig Harfoot (again): Criticized stormwater fee spending, county vs. school board lawsuit, and argued for private animal shelter.
- Ryan Cohote: Detailed the cost of doing nothing on animal overpopulation, urged spay/neuter funding, and noted surrounding counties' investments.
- Cheryl Gould: Requested three things: keep veterinary positions, design new shelter with high-volume spay/neuter capacity, and create a prevention line item.
- Cheryl Hatcher: Shared a personal story of kitten overpopulation in her neighborhood, showing that targeted spay/neuter reduced numbers dramatically.
- Rebecca Sussman: Spoke as a foster volunteer, requested funding for spay/neuter to prevent shelter intake and euthanasia.
- Kelly Sullivan: Argued that the county's own voucher program is ineffective, and that spay/neuter is a cost-saving investment.
- Tracy Hedrick: Requested expansion of affordable spay/neuter access, including partnerships and mobile clinics.
- Patrice Ernest: Cited a euthanized cat with a collar, called for TNR programs to reduce euthanasia rates.
- Sam Heaton (representing Cobb County Retired Employees Association): Thanked the board for including a 4% stipend increase for Medicare-eligible retirees, noting the stipend had not been increased since 2015.
- Unidentified speaker: Supported animal services but argued that public safety (police funding) should be the top priority, requesting a larger increase for Cobb County Police.
- Jane Harris: Supported animal services staff and hinted at need for more resources.
Discussion Items
- CFO Buddy Tezar presented the millage rate proposal: all millage rates (general fund, fire district, Cumberland Special Service District) proposed unchanged from FY25. Net digest grew 5.06%, with commercial digest up 7.6% in a revaluation year. Explained the floating homestead exemption benefit using a real home example, showing that general fund taxes remained flat for that homeowner while other levies increased. Also noted a one-time homeowner relief grant credit from the state that will likely not recur.
- Then presented the budget: total county budget increase of $84.7 million, with $29 million in the general fund. Highlights include 59 new positions (23 general fund, 27 fire, 6 stormwater, 3 water/sewer), 2% pay scale adjustment, 3% merit, 4% stipend increase for Medicare-eligible retirees, and addition of stormwater utility fund ($17.1 million). Impact items ($8.1 million) and budget recommendations ($3.5 million) were described. The water transfer is reduced from 4% to 3%. No change in millage rate.
- Board members clarified homestead exemption eligibility: anyone who owns and lives in their home can apply; it applies only to the general fund portion. Also noted legal requirements for property assessments and encouraged residents to appeal if they believe their assessment is inaccurate.
Key Outcomes
- The second public hearing was held and closed. The third and final public hearing is scheduled for July 28, 2026, at 7 p.m., followed by budget adoption.
- No votes were taken during this hearing; it was solely for public comment and presentation.
- The CFO and board provided clarifications on exemptions and assessment processes.
- The proposed budget and millage rates remain as presented, with no changes announced at this meeting.
Meeting Transcript
Thank you. Good evening, and welcome to today's Millage Public Hearing for our fiscal year twenty twenty-six. We will have a budget hearing following this hearing during which members of the public will have the ability to address the board, and there will be an indefinite number of speakers that we're willing to take on these two topics only. Again, we're here to talk about our millage public hearing and our county budget. An unlimited number of speakers will be able to address the board on these topics, and you will have up to three minutes to do so. Before we kick off our first hearing, I will go ahead and have our CFO, Buddy Tezar, come up to the podium. He will be the one that will be helping us walk through both of these hearings. Tonight is our second public hearing. It's July 21st. Uh, and then we have our third public hearing scheduled for our regularly scheduled board meeting on Tuesday, July 28th, 2026 at 7 p.m. in this room. For the sake of the audience, the millage rates that this commission is in charge of are on the screen. We have the general fund, the fire district fund and the Cumberland Special Service District 2 fund. We are no longer responsible for setting the millage rate for the Six Flag Special Service District. All the millage rates that were proposed are going to be unchanged at the proposed level from FY25. Down below, you'll have the overall net digest. The overall net digest in 2026 grew 5.06%. That is slowing down from where it was a few years ago in 2022 and 2023, respectively. It was near eight and ten percent. So we are in this area of moderate to cooling uh digest growth. This is a lot of numbers, but this is what makes up the overall net digest. It walks through every property that is assessed by our tax assessor's office and includes uh the exemptions below. We'll get into the exemption primarily the floating homestead exemption on the next slide. One of the biggest changes that we had overall was in our commercial digest. This was a commercial revaluation year, and it grew at approximately 7.6 percent. The year prior, it was at 0.26 percent, and historically, it's at 6%. So this is slightly above the historical average and makes up for an outlier of last year. Overall, uh, again, the net digest grew at 5.06 percent. Here is the slide I was referring to earlier with respect to the exemptions that are available to residents of Cobb County at their primary homestead, assuming that they have filed their uh floating homestead exemption. This is a real home in Cobb County in 2018. It was purchased at 205,090 over the course of time, as you can see indicated by the gray bars. It has grown once in 2021 to 317,000. It was once again reassessed in 2024 to a total of 459,000. That is actually very close to the average home price within Cobb County. Now I use this real example to indicate the benefit of the general funds floating homestead exemption on your primary residents. The lines indicate the amount paid by this resident on their property tax bill. The general fund line is and has remained flat. That is the uh benefit of the floating homestead exemption. It locks in and provides an exemption for any amount of growth on your fair market value, so you're only assessed on the value of the day that you purchase the home and filed your primary homestead exemption. Other uh millage rates that are assessed do not have this float, they increase as the market value increases on that home. So again, the primary millage rate that this board sets is the general fund. It is uh proposed to remain flat, so those who have the floating homestead will not experience uh an increase in their general fund portion of the property tax bill. There will be a slight increase in the fire fund tax bill, but that is uh 2.97 mills, so it is much uh less of a dollar difference. Um, again, in this example, the individual would have paid close to $1,500 without the float. So that saves approximately $838 for that individual. Again, the longer you stay in the home, the more beneficial that uh floating homestead can be. But this is just a real life example. Everyone's uh property tax bill will be different, so I encourage everyone to look at their property tax bill to make sure that they understand it. Um you can find your estimate on the website uh provided below. Uh and one last thing I do want to uh let everyone know that there will be a credit from the homeowner relief grant this year.
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