Press Release:  At it’s July 20 meeting, The Bartow County School Board voted 4 to 1 to adopt a tentative measure

to maintain the current total school millage rate of 19.4. This move
will provide resources to support the FY16 budget, which was adopted June 25, 2015 and enables the
school system to manage its funding priorities of serving students through attracting and retaining the
highest quality professionals and continuing to integrate technology in the classroom.
In order to keep the local tax digest current, the Bartow County Tax Assessor’s Office conducts annual
property value reassessments on a rotating basis. By state law, local taxing authorities, such as the Bartow
County School Board, must either decrease the millage rate to offset the increase in taxes gained from
rising property values or announce a tax increase. The school board is looking to maintain the millage rate
of 19.4, and therefore is required to announce a proposed property tax increase. This means that taxpayers
whose property had no change in value will see no change in their school tax bill.
While total state revenue will increase by $2.5 million through the Quality Basic Education (QBE)
funding formula, the increases in teacher benefit costs including health insurance and Teacher Retirement
System will continue to rise. As the local digest is expected to increase, this will in turn lead to higher
local revenue for the school system by maintaining the current millage rate at 19.40.
To accomplish it’s most important goal of serving students through outstanding instruction, Bartow
County School System must remain competitive in order to attract and retain high caliber faculty.
Therefore, the vast majority of increased revenue will be used to fund classroom instruction.
In a continued effort to manage a fiscally responsible system, the district has enacted numerous reductions
over the past several years. The most recent included $2 million in personnel adjustments and $500,000 in
operations costs.

As required by law, the Bartow County Board of Education will hold three public hearings as part of it’s
process for setting the millage rate. The first and second public hearings will be held on July 30 at noon
and 6 p.m. The final public hearing will take place at 5 p.m. on Aug. 17. All of the public hearings are
scheduled to take place in the Board Room at the Bartow County Board of Education, 65 Gilreath Road,
Cartersville.
Citizens may address the school board at any of the three public hearings. To speak at the hearings,
participants must arrive 15 minutes prior to the meeting to place their name on a sign-up sheet.
A copy of the adopted budget is available for public review on the school system’s website
at www.bartow.k12.ga.us.
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