Fulton Schools superintendent recommends 5.85% property tax hike for 2026

Fulton County Schools Superintendent Mike Looney announced that he will recommend a 5.85% increase to the 2026 property tax rate at the Aug. 20 Board of Education meeting.

“Rising costs, increased employer contributions for health care and the Teachers Retirement System, inflation, and declining local tax revenue from senior property tax exemptions have created budget pressures,” the announcement said. “To address these challenges, Dr. Looney plans to recommend a tentative millage rate of 18.08, about a 1-mill increase from the current rate.”

Next steps and questions

According to the school district, Looney emphasized that the recommendation is based on available information. If the yet-to-be-certified tax digest provides an opportunity to recommend a lower millage rate, he said it will be adjusted.

Delays with property assessments in this year’s tax digest process led to a court-approved temporary billing order, allowing rate adjustments to continue past the Sept. 1 deadline as digests are completed.

The Fulton County Board of Education met on Tuesday, Aug. 11, for a work session at the North Learning Center in Sandy Springs.

Looney said revenue streams are not finalized, and 60% of its operational revenue comes from countywide property taxes (outside the city of Atlanta).

“Over the course of this last year, we did some austerity cuts,” Looney said, citing a $50 million figure. “We implemented a project called GLIDE to gradually, purposefully, and systematically begin reducing expenses.”

According to Fulton County Schools’ announcement, the proposed increase would help reduce reliance on reserves to cover ongoing expenses or eliminate its budget deficit. In June, the school board adopted the 2026-27 budget, about $2.3 billion across all funds, with a deficit of more than $50 million.

For the past seven years, school district staff have recommended lowering the millage rate or keeping it the same as the student population gradually declines across the county.

School district funding

The school district has one of metro Atlanta’s lowest millage rates, which it has held steady at 17.08 for the past two years. One mill is equal to $1 per $1,000 of a home’s taxable value, which is 40 percent of the property’s overall assessed value.

School board members can accept the superintendent’s recommended tax increase, keep the rate flat, or consider other changes before final adoption. If the board moves forward with the tentative millage rate, three public hearings will be held before a final vote.

While meetings themselves are streamed and documented, the official district policy explicitly states that public comment periods are neither aired nor recorded.

Looney said the “unwelcomed” millage rate increase is a sustainable solution for the operation of a “$1.5 billion organization.”

“It would also put the district in a stronger position to operate within its available revenues over the long term,” the announcement said. “If approved, the additional revenue would allow FCS to eliminate the employee furlough day currently proposed for this school year and provide greater flexibility to consider salary increases in future years.”

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