Many property owners in Henry County will see a reduction in their school board taxes after the board approved lowering its 2024 property taxes. The reduction amounts to 1.628 mills.
Henry County Schools receives about 60% of property taxes collected. The reduction will save property owners $163 per $100 thousand in assessed value.
Henry County Schools 2024 Property Taxes
The Henry County school board approved its millage rate during a special called meeting on July 22. The school district’s property taxes are comprised of two parts. First, the maintenance & operations tax pays for day-to-day expenses. Second, the district’s bond debt millage rate goes towards repaying long-term debt for capital projects. Below is a look at the millage rates for 2023 and 2024:
| 2023 | 2024 | |
|---|---|---|
| Maintenance & Operations | 20 | 20 |
| Bond Debt | 3.628 | 2.000 |
| Total | 23.628 | 22.000 |
The school district is able to lower its bond debt because it has been proactive in retiring debt early. The district’s early debt payments will save property owners about $41 million in future interest the district would have otherwise owed. Most recently, the district repaid about $30 million in June.
In addition, the growth in the local tax digest supports lowering the bond millage rate. The increased property values allows each mill to collect more tax revenue. In 2024–25, one mill will generate an estimated $13.15 million. This value has doubled in seven years since 2017–2018. It was $6.43 million at the time.
FY 2024–25 Budget
The property tax levy supports the district’s FY 2024–2025 budget. For this school year, Henry County Schools has an approved generaa of $561.4 million. Local revenues pay for 50% of the budget. State funds and a very small portion of federal funds (0.3%) covers the remainder.
Some notable items in the budget are the following:
- a $2,500 salary increase for teachers, raising the starting salary for a teacher in Henry County to $50,910,
- 41 new teacher positions, to include additional teachers in world languages, orchestra and computer science / engineering,
- A 2% pay raise for classified and administrative staff, and
- Investments beyond 2% to provide a $1 per hour pay raise for bus drivers, para pros, clinic aides, elementary and data entry clerks, school secretaries, district secretaries and maintenance personnel.
The district’s budget projects per student expenditure of $12,940. This is a 26% increase since FY 2023. Henry County’s per student cost was the lowest among the state’s ten largest school districts in 2023.
Other Property Taxes
Henry County Schools represents only part of the property taxes. The county, water authority and three cities also levy a property tax.
The most straight-forward tax is the water authority. They have a two-mill levy for capital projects & bond debt. This collection has been in place since the 1960s; it is scheduled to end in 2030.
On July 22, Stockbridge was the first governing authority to adopt its 2024 millage rate. They approved maintaining their current rate of 3.77 mills. Stockbridge first implemented its city tax last year to pay for additional police service and public works.
The other city councils — Hampton and McDonough — will consider approving their tax rates on Monday, July 29. Hampton is contemplating an increase; whereas, McDonough passed a tax increase in January of this year. The last city, Locust Grove, does not currently charge a property tax.
Finally, Henry County will host its millage rate hearing on Tuesday, July 30. The hearing begins at 1 o’clock at the county admin building. The board of commissioners is being asked to consider a three-mill increase. This would apply in unincorporated areas. Property owners in each city would see a smaller increase under the current proposal.
Featured image shows the school district office. Henry County Schools photo.
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