THOMASVILLE — Thomasville City Schools has tentatively approved its FY09 millage rate and set public hearings.

The Thomasville City Schools Board of Education gave unanimous tentative approval to a millage rate of 17.1 mils. This is a decrease of 1.89 mils from the current rate of 18.99.

“Property reassessments, which increased the per mil value of the tax digest, made it possible to generate the local revenue needed to operate the system with a lower millage rate,” Dusty Kornegay, assistant superintendent, said Wednesday. “It is not possible to know how much the new millage rate will generate because of the property values that are in dispute, but the amount is expected to be greater than the amount generated at last year’s rate.”

This is above the rollback millage rate — currently 13.84 mils — meaning the rate must be advertised and public hearings are required before the board can give final approval.

“The rollback millage rate includes approximately $50 million in property value that is currently being contested by taxpayers in the city,” Kornegay said. “The board had to take a conservative approach to ensure that adequate revenue would be generated to fund the system even if a significant number of the appeals are resolved in favor of the property owners.”

Millage rate is determined by dividing the estimated revenue per mil into the amount of local revenue needed to fund the budget, he said. Millage rate, once tentatively approved and advertised, cannot be raised but can be lowered if necessary.

“Before the final millage rate is set Sept. 16, the board will revisit the status of the appeals and determine whether it is possible to reduce the millage rate,” Kornegay said.

This does not mean all city residents will see a reduction in their tax bill.

“While property owners whose assessments did not change will see a reduction in their tax bill, tax payers whose assessments increased by a significant amount will likely see a tax increase,” Kornegay said. “The tax bill is a factor of both the assessment and the millage rate, so determining how an individual’s tax bill will change is a case by case matter.”

John Everett, board member, said Wednesday “we’re in a very challenging economic environment right now.”

“The board is sensitive to being the strongest steward of the taxpayers’ resources as possible while providing the best and most efficient education as possible,” he said.

The board also approved an amended FY2009 budget of $23,007,273, which reflects a decrease of $280,000 in state revenue from recent budget cuts and is an overall 4.8 percent increase from FY2008.

“Since 2002, Thomasville City School System has lost $2,576,882 due to reductions in Quality Basic Education law allotments,” Kornegay said.

“The cumulative effect of these cuts over the last seven years has been the depletion of the system’s operating reserve. Because of this, the additional cuts currently being imposed by the governor are forcing the system to make budget cuts and raise local revenue to close the gap.”