A millage rate is how a school system or other organization generates revenue to fund its budget. Each year, a school system may choose to propose a millage rate increase, leave the rate the same as the previous year, or roll back the millage rate to account for increased revenue from a rising tax digest. The Griffin-Spalding County School System (GSCS) decided to leave the millage rate the same in the FY27 budget as the previous year. The proposed millage rate is 16.393. There is no change in the millage rate adopted by GSCS as compared to last year.
GSCS adopted a rollback millage rate of 16.393 in 2025. The 2024 millage rate for GSCS was 16.742; the rate had been 16.742 each year since 2020. In 2019, 2018, and 2017, the GSCS millage rate was 17.078, 18.066 and 18.204, respectively. From 2012 through 2014, the GSCS millage rate was 19.470, and it remained the same for three consecutive years before being rolled back six consecutive years.
The proposed millage rate of 16.393 means that a home with a fair market value of $100,000.00 that is assessed would experience an increase of approximately $21.28. Those properties that are not reassessed will remain the same.
The budget tentatively accepted by the GSCS requires a millage rate higher than the rollback millage rate. Georgia law requires three public hearings to allow the public an opportunity to express their opinions on the millage rate. All concerned citizens are invited to the public hearings on this tax increase to be held at the GSCS Boardroom (216 South 6th Street, Griffin, GA) on September 29, 2026, at 10 AM and 6 PM and on October 6, 2026, at 3:30 PM.
The school system has empathy for citizens facing inflation, but GSCS is also experiencing increasing operational costs and significant increases in employee healthcare benefits. GSCS has also experienced a reduction in revenue based on the senior school tax exemption. To do what is fiscally responsible and best for the students, who are the future of our community, the board of education believes the best decision is to leave the millage rate the same.
Other school systems near Spalding County had the following millage rates for 2025:
Spalding: 16.393
Clayton: 19.600
Fayette: 19.600
Pike: 13.500 plus a bond rate of 0.669
Rockdale: 20.00 Upson: 13.130
Muscogee: 23.075
Newton: 15.500
Lamar: 12.699 plus a bond rate of 1.5