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ZEBULON - It is the time of the year when taxes are on the mind of citizens. The taxes are determined by the millage rate set by the school system and the county commission.

Information for the school system and county is in separate sections below. The school is holding hearings on the millage rate that the public can comment. The county will be holding a special called meeting to set the millage rate.

Overall according to the chart below, the net tax percentage for both the schools and the county will be going up due to increased property sales in the county.

School Millage Hearings and Adoption to Be Held

The FY24 Millage Hearings and Adoption for the school budget will be held in the Pike County Ninth Grade Academy Collaboration Room (7360 Hwy. 19 South, Zebulon) on the following dates and times:

Hearing#1: Wednesday 11/1/23 – 11:30 a.m.
Hearing#2: Wednesday 11/1/23 – 6:00 p.m.
Hearing#3: Thursday 11/9/23 – 10:00 a.m.

The public will be allowed to participate in these hearings.

Adoption: Thursday 11/9/23 – 10:15 a.m.

The 5 year Property Tax Digest and 5 Year History of the Levy is shown below with the Millage Rate in yellow.

Please note that the Pike County School System participates in Equaliazation Grant funding from the State of Georgia under the Quality Basic Education (QBE) school funding law which requires each county to have a basic minimum millage rate of 14 mills.

In the July 18, 2023 Board of Education meeting, it was noted that the millage rate would be the topic of discussion starting in August. It was noted that Dr. Steve Smith would be coming to speak about how the millage rate affects our state funding.

These comments are from that meeting: Last year it was 15.74 M&O. If we go lower less than 14%, we will lose $2 million from the State of Georgia in grant funding so the millage rate cannot go below 14%. We received $2.6 million from the state last year. A mill equals about $210,000. This is state law.

An explanation of QBE can be found on this website. QBE is complicated, but the large amounts that were mentioned before would be affected if the school goes below 14 mills. https://gbpi.org/how-does-georgia-fund-schools/

According to the notification to the public from the school system trying to explain this process (this was in the Pike Journal Reporter), without the tentative tax increase, the millage rate will be no more than 12.559 mills. The proposed tax increase for a home with a fair market value of $150,000 is approximately $86 and the proposed tax increase for non-homestead property with a fair market value of $200,000 is approximately $115.

The public is invited to attend and speak at their meetings.

County Commission Meeting and Adoption to Be Held

The Pike County Board of Commissioners will set the millage rate in a meeting to be held at the Pike County Board of Commissioners Conference Room (NOT THE COURTHOUSE MEETING ROOM) on Thursday, November 9, 2023 at 1 p.m.

This will include the millage rate for the county and the millage for the Pike County Development Authority.

The public is invited to attend this meeting. The 5 year Property Tax Digest and 5 Year History of the Levy is shown below with the Millage Rate in yellow.

The county is not holding hearings for public discussion but will be holding a meeting to set the millage rate. The millage rate will be dropping from 11.9860 millage last year to 9.6380 mills this year with a total of M&O taxes rising from $7,780,653 to $8,707,777 (also according to the chart below) with a net tax increase of $816,213 to $927,124 from last year to this year.

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