As assessments climb, DCSS signals sizable millage cut

ALBANY — As Dougherty County property owners react to sharply higher reassessed values, school officials say the Dougherty County School System expects to substantially reduce its property tax rate for the ninth consecutive year.

Superintendent Kenneth Dyer told members of the Dougherty County Board of Education on Friday that the district has not yet received the preliminary tax digest needed to calculate a proposed millage rate, but the significant increase in property values is expected to allow for a sizable reduction.

“I do anticipate a significant reduction in our millage rate because of the significant increase in the tax digest,” Dyer said. “What exactly that is, I don’t know.”

Dyer said the reduction could ultimately be the largest the district has made during its nine-year stretch of lowering the millage rate.

The distinction is important for property owners concerned about the reassessment notices they have received.

The school system does not determine individual property values. Those assessments are established through Dougherty County’s property tax assessment process. The school board instead determines the millage rate applied to taxable property values to generate revenue for the school district.

That means a significant reduction in the school millage rate could offset at least some of the impact of higher property assessments, but it does not necessarily mean every homeowner’s school tax bill will decline.

A property owner whose taxable value increased substantially could still pay more in school taxes even with a lower millage rate, depending on the size of the reassessment, applicable exemptions and the rate ultimately adopted by the board.

Dyer acknowledged the concern surrounding the reassessments, telling board members some property values appeared to have increased significantly. He said some residents have questioned whether the new assessed values reflect what their properties could actually sell for.

“We can anticipate a ninth consecutive year, and it’ll probably be the largest rollback — the largest reduction — that we’ve seen,” Dyer said.

Exactly how far the board can reduce the rate will depend on more than the amount of local property tax revenue generated. Dyer said the district must also protect its eligibility for state equalization funding, which provides additional state dollars to school systems with comparatively lower property wealth.

Georgia requires districts receiving equalization funding to maintain a certain level of local tax effort. Dropping the millage rate too far could potentially cost the district state funding.

“We have to be very careful in our calculation to ensure that we don’t change our millage rate to the fact that we go underwater,” Dyer said.

District finance officials are expected to analyze the preliminary digest once it becomes available before presenting a specific millage recommendation to the board.

The discussion came during a meeting in which auditors also presented a favorable assessment of the district’s finances.

Hope Pendergrass of the Mauldin & Jenkins CPA firm told board members DCSS received an unmodified opinion on its Fiscal Year 2025 financial statements, the highest level of assurance an independent auditor can provide.

“That’s what you want,” Pendergrass said. “That is an unmodified opinion. That’s the best that you can get.”

The district reported approximately $145 million in total net position as of June 30, 2025, along with a governmental fund balance of about $52.8 million.

DCSS ended the fiscal year with approximately $53 million in cash and reserves equal to roughly 12 weeks of operating expenses, according to the audit presentation.

Pendergrass said the district also finished approximately $8.5 million better than originally anticipated when comparing its budget with actual financial results.

The reserve balance prompted discussion about how much money a school district should keep available rather than spend immediately.

Pendergrass pointed to rapidly increasing costs that local school systems have limited ability to control. Dyer said maintaining healthy reserves allows the district to absorb unexpected expenses, funding changes or economic pressures without immediately turning to substantial budget cuts.

“We are in a very strong position,” Dyer said. “Not all school systems can say that. Not all governments can say that.”

For taxpayers, the next major number will be the district’s proposed millage rate.

Until DCSS receives the preliminary tax digest and calculates that rate, the precise impact of the countywide reassessment on individual school tax bills will remain unclear.