Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...

The Decatur County Board of Education will hold a called meeting this Thursday afternoon. The main and only item on the agenda is a public hearing on the current millage rate and property tax. Superintendent Dr. Boyd English spoke with the Post-Searchlight about what to expect at the meeting, saying, “Part of the funding for local education is specifically tied to the property tax in the county and city of Bainbridge.” The Board of Education must meet annually to discuss if the millage rates should be increased or remain the same.

“Currently, it is our belief that we need to keep it the same,” English said. “We definitely don’t feel that this is the time to raise taxes from the current rate on families in the community.” He continued, “There’s a lot of uncertainty in the economy, and because of the uncertainty, we want to keep things the same, without adding another tax on the families of Decatur County. At the same time, we don’t want to roll back with so much uncertainty during these economic times.”

The current millage rate is 14.565 mills, 2.51% over the calculated rollback millage rate.

English said in conclusion, “I would like to say, to the citizens of Decatur County, that we will always be mindful of the tax rate that is levied within the community, in terms of the tax burden it’s going to place on the citizens. We keep that in mind, we’re cognizant of that. We want to make sure that, as we prepare for the future, that we are adequately funding public education. It is important that we act on behalf of our students, as we ensure they are college and career ready.”