Bibb school board discussing millage rate August 12

The district has not released its proposed rate or rollback rate ahead of the meeting, with public hearings scheduled to begin August 26.

MACON, Georgia (41NBC/WMGT) — The Bibb County Board of Education is scheduled to consider tentative adoption of its millage rate Wednesday, August 12, weeks after restoring an estimated $1.5 million in staff salary step increases.

The district’s Simbli website identifies a called meeting that day as the tentative millage-rate adoption. An email sent by the district Thursday says the meeting begins at 6 p.m. at the Professional Learning Center, located at 2003 Riverside Drive in Macon. However, Simbli currently lists a meeting for 5 p.m.

41NBC has asked the district to clarify the starting time.

The district has not released its proposed millage rate or this year’s rollback rate. It said the full agenda will be posted before the meeting. If you can’t make it, the district will stream it on YouTube.

Board members voted July 16 to restore salary step increases for all eligible employees after the original fiscal year 2027 budget kept staff members at their current salary steps.

Daryl Morton cast the only opposing vote. Morton said he supported giving employees the increases but warned that restoring the money could lead to higher property taxes if the board does not adopt the rollback rate.

“The only way we have that additional revenue is if we don’t roll back the millage rate, which is a fancy way of saying we raise people’s taxes,” Morton said. “You don’t have to be a rocket scientist to see how tough things are for people right now.”

In August 2025, the school board kept its millage rate at 14.674 mills. Although that was the same rate as the previous year, it was 0.652 mills above the rollback rate and counted as a tax increase under Georgia law.

The rollback rate is calculated annually using the tax digest. It’s the rate that would keep overall property tax revenue level as property values rise.

For a typical owner-occupied home valued at $200,000, the school board’s 2025 decision resulted in an estimated increase of $47.60 compared with the rollback rate.

When the board approved its original fiscal year 2027 budget June 25, the district said the budget did not include a millage-rate increase. That statement came before the board restored the salary step increases July 16.

The original budget projected $287.4 million in general fund revenue and transfers and $302.4 million in spending and transfers, which left a projected $15 million operating deficit. The district projected an ending general fund balance of $33.2 million.

The board’s Simbli website lists millage-rate public hearings for August 26 at 11 a.m. and 6 p.m. A third hearing is scheduled for September 2 at 5:30 p.m., followed by a called meeting for final adoption of the millage rate at 6 p.m.

Locations for those hearings and the September 2 meeting have not been posted. 41NBC will update this story when that information becomes available.