SPRINGFIELD, Ga. — Effingham County school property owners will see the school district’s millage rate fall for the first time since 2024.
The Effingham County Board of Education voted Aug. 20 to set the rate at 18.018 mills, down from 18.45 mills last year.
The board also approved a $211.06 million operating budget for fiscal 2027, an increase of about $8 million from the previous year.
Lower rate follows two years of increases
The rollback follows two consecutive years of millage rate increases, driven largely by rising state-mandated employee health insurance costs. The district’s health insurance cost increased from $1,885 to $1,935 per employee per month.
This year, the district was able to lower the rate as the county’s tax digest grew substantially.
The value of a mill has increased as property values have risen, particularly for industrial properties and land. The tax digest is prepared by the Effingham County Tax Assessor’s Office.
That growth allowed the school district to generate the revenue needed to support its operations while lowering the millage rate.
District worked to control costs
The district also worked to control spending while preparing to open Creekside Elementary School.
At the Aug. 11 school board meeting, Finance Director Lauren Cain described the approach to the fiscal 2027 budget as “pause and prioritize.”
“We wanted to be flat,” Cain said. “We knew we were opening Creekside Elementary, and we wanted to see how we can do that by not increasing costs and not increasing headcount.”
Student enrollment has remained relatively stable, allowing the district to open Creekside primarily by redistricting students and redistributing staff rather than adding a large number of employees.
The new school still brings additional operating costs, including electricity, water and school resource officer expenses.
The district also is budgeting for higher teacher salaries as employees move up the salary schedule and additional substitute-teacher costs following a state-mandated increase in teacher leave from three days to five days.
The fiscal 2027 budget includes capital projects such as upgrades to the tennis courts at South Effingham High School and South Effingham Middle School and construction of a new maintenance facility on Hodgeville Road.
Following the Aug. 20 vote, Superintendent Yancy Ford said the rollback delivers on a commitment made after last year’s millage increase.
“Following last year’s unexpected state health insurance cost increase, which forced us to raise the millage rate, we knew we had to take proactive steps to ease the tax burden on our residents,” Ford said.
Board Chair Vickie Decker said the board had promised taxpayers it would work to roll back the rate.
“As a Board, we made a promise to our taxpayers that we would work to roll the millage rate back, and I am proud that we kept that promise,” Decker said.
Ford said the district will continue looking for ways to lower the millage rate as additional revenue becomes available while maintaining investments in teachers, staff and students.
