SCBOE adopts roll-back millage rate

By Jessica Waters

The Stephens County Board of Education, at Tuesday’s regular meeting, unanimously voted to adopt the roll-back millage rate of 14.76 mills. There was no public comment on the adoption during the meeting.

Looking back over the past five years, the school system’s millage rate has continually dropped from year to year as the county’s tax digest continues to grow.

According to the 2023 Stephens County Tax Digest, prepared by Stephens County Tax Commissioner Dene Hicks, the county’s net tax digest for the current year is $738.8 million, meaning that a 14.76 mills rate for the school district will result in the levy of $10,905,281 in taxes for the maintenance and operation of the school system – a 1.92 percent increase over the previous year.

The 2022 Stephens County Tax Digest showed a net value of $680.6 million, allowing the school district to levy $10,699,347 in taxes with a 15.72 millage rate.

In 2021, the county’s tax digest was $629.2 million, and the school system levied a total of $10.38 million in taxes with a 16.51 millage rate.

The school district’s 2020 millage rate of 16.67 mills, applied to that year’s net tax digest of $623.962,008, resulted in a levy of $10.4 million in taxes for the maintenance and operation of the school system.

The $605.6 million dollar tax digest in 2019 allowed the school system to use a 16.8 mills rate – unchanged from the prior year – to levy $10.2 million in taxes for county schools – 2 percent more than it levied in 2018, using the same millage rate, due to a $12 million increase in the tax digest from 2018 to 2019.

The County Board of Commissioners must accept the Board of Education’s millage rate by resolution prior to submitting the tax digest to the State Department of Revenue.

A copy of the 2023 tax digest and 5-year levy history for the Stephens County School System is available at wnegradio.com.

For questions regarding the recent action of the Stephens County Board of Education contact the school system office by calling 706-886-9415.