Alpharetta Keeps Property Tax Rate Flat

Alpharetta's second public hearing on its budget for Fiscal Year 2014 will be at 6:30 p.m. today at City Hall.

The City Council plans to leave its millage rate at 5.75 mills, the same rate it has kept since 2009. If an individual property owner's assessment is increased by Fulton County, that property owner will be paying higher taxes. Fulton County recently announced those property assessments will be mailed starting on June 15.

Local homeowners get tax relief through Alpharetta’s homestead exemption, which is now at $40,000. This is the highest such exemption in Georgia, according to a release from the city.

The proposed budget includes several key capital and operating initiatives, including:

• Economic development initiatives designed to foster a healthy local economy through the attraction, retention, and expansion of businesses including a contribution towards the future Gwinnett Tech campus;
• Expanded public safety service levels including increased drug enforcement activity and additional fire services that have the added benefit of a potential increase to the City’s Insurance Services Office (ISO) rating from “2” to “1” (highest) which would lead to an estimated 2% to 4% reduction (average) in property insurance premiums. If successful, the City would be 1 of only 41 communities across the Nation with an ISO rating of “1”; and
• Funding totaling $8.3 million for capital investment within our City including $2.4 million for recurring capital initiatives aimed at ensuring infrastructure continues to be maintained to the high standards our citizenry have come to expect. Projects include milling and resurfacing of City streets, traffic signalization equipment repair and maintenance, stormwater maintenance, etc.

While Alpharetta’s overall millage rate would remain flat under the proposal, there would be some changes to its individual components as follows:

The City is shifting 0.05 mills from the Debt Service millage rate to the Maintenance and Operations millage rate to provide funding for public safety and economic development initiatives.  Because this shift increases the millage rate dedicated to Maintenance and Operations, Alpharetta is required by law to advertise a millage rate increase even though the total millage rate will remain the same as in previous years.Citizens are also encouraged to view the proposed budget on the City of Alpharetta website.