Dalton Public Schools Superintendent Steven Craft and members of the Board of Education plan to continue discussion of the property tax rate for fiscal year 2025 during the board’s meeting Monday but board members are not expected to vote on the rate.
The fiscal year began July 1.
The board meets at 6:30 p.m. in the City Park School auditorium at 405 School St. The meeting will be livestreamed to the Dalton Board of Education’s page on the Dalton Public Schools website. All meetings are open to the public. A work session is at 5:30 p.m.
According to the meeting agenda, the board members will “discuss setting a millage rate” and “schedule the Taxpayer Bill of Rights meetings.”
The Property Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights is a state law (https://dor.georgia.gov/property-taxpayers-bill-rights).
During the board’s Aug. 12 meeting, Chair Matt Evans said the board members would not vote on a property tax rate for fiscal year 2025 until the school system received a certified tax digest from the Whitfield County assessors office. They have not received that.
According to Whitfield County Board of Commissioners Chairman Jevin Jensen, members of the Board of Commissioners are expected to vote Monday to authorize County Attorney Robert Smalley to file a temporary collection order with Superior Court, which would be an “official request of the judge to approve Whitfield County’s use of the 2023 digest for property taxes this year instead of the problematic 2024 digest.” It is not clear which judge would hear the request.
The Dalton City Council will hold a called meeting at 8 a.m. Tuesday at City Hall to vote on a petition for a temporary tax collection order and an executive session, closed to the public and the media, to discuss potential litigation.
Whitfield County Tax Commissioner Danny Sane sent a letter to members of the county Board of Assessors and other officials explaining concerns about the proposed tax digest for this year.
“Even though the average values of our commercial and industrial properties had increased, the assessors had dramatically reduced more than 800 of our commercial and industrial accounts by more than $50,000,” Sane wrote in the letter. “Some of the decreases were in the millions!”
“This decrease in specific commercial and industrial property was coming at a time when over 7,000 homes had been increased by more than 50%,” he wrote. “I knew immediately what this meant. It meant that there was about to be a dramatic shift in Whitfield County’s tax burden from business and industry to homeowners.”
Dalton Board of Education members have discussed potentially keeping the property tax rate at eight mills during previous meetings, which Evans said they still hope to do. Those plans could shift because some property values in Whitfield County were “under-assessed and undervalued” in the preliminary tax digest, he said.
Dalton Public Schools’ Deputy Superintendent Nick Sun said the Board of Commissioners meeting will not affect the Dalton Board of Education’s discussion Monday.
“Our Board of Education is aware of the (Board of Commissioners meeting) discussions scheduled for Monday night,” said Sun. “As always, we are committed to making decisions that prioritize the best outcomes for our students. Any decisions will be made after we fully assess the final details of what is passed.”
Craft and members of the board will discuss scheduling the public meetings, said system Director of Communications Kendra Pannell.
“Once we have the discussion on setting a millage rate, we’ll schedule the Taxpayer Bill of Rights meetings because legally we’re required to advertise those for so many weeks (in advance),” Pannell said. “(The rate) won’t be finalized until we go through the Bill of Rights and we have all of those meetings open to the public.”
Board members are also expected to hear a presentation from members of Coosa Ecological LLC, which specializes in ecological restoration and habitat management, about implementing a proposed low-impact, controlled burn on the property of Park Creek School.
According to Pannell, members of the company are “wanting to do a minimal impact burn” on a small strip of land at Park Creek “to help kill invasive plants and insects, and to help rehabilitate … around” the school.
If approved, the controlled burn would take place in early 2025.
Craft is expected to provide the monthly superintendent’s announcements, including administration updates and an overview of safety and security procedures.
Theresa Perry, the system’s chief of finance, is set to provide the financial report for June and August.