The Bulloch County Board of Education voted Wednesday night to set a tentative millage rate three mills higher than the 2024 rate following an hour and a half of public comments from citizens and district employees and a lengthy board discussion about the right time to raise taxes.
The vote means the Board will advertise the rate and hold hearings on the proposed millage rate, which amounts to a tax increase.
Board members met Wednesday for a special-called meeting to discuss the 2025 millage rate. At issue was a proposal to increase the millage rate by roughly 3 mills over the rollback rate. The increase would constitute a 43.58% increase over the 2024 millage rate, which was a 29.88% increase over the 2023 millage rate. As a result, the Board would collect just shy of $12 million more than it did in 2024, for a total of $39,270,167 in total taxes levied at the local level. The proposal realizes a shift in funding sources from 14.00 mills to 15.549 mills for Gross Maintenance & Operation (M&O) millage and a reduction in Local Option Sales Tax (LOST) dollars by almost one mill. The total millage as proposed would increase from 7.932 mills to 10.400 mills.
(A rollback rate of 7.45 mills is the rate at which the Board of Education would set the millage to collect the same amount of funds as the previous year. One mill is approximately $3.8 million in taxes collected)
See the chart as presented by the Board on Wednesday:
Public Participation
Twenty-five individuals signed up to address the board.
Tracy Hartwell – a District Instructional Coach for the school system, addressed how eliminating her position and several others will impact the children. “This will continue to require layoffs of teachers, paraprofessionals…STEM programs, arts, music, athletics will be cut,” she said, while saying that teachers will leave for other districts.
“Economically disadvantaged students will be disproportionately impacted…There will be a decline in graduation rates,” she noted, saying property values will suffer from underfunded education programs.
A failure to raise the millage rate will have a domino effect and will put a strain on Georgia Southern University.
Jane Page – A teacher, said the millage rate should be raised “as much as we can.” She said it’s a moral and ethical responsibility.
Greg Brock – spoke in favor raising the millage rate. He said it is good for seniors. “These students that you’re educating right now are going to be paying taxes to support the seniors and bolster social security.”
He said if people own a home, they’re wealthy and if they’re income poor, they should take out a home equity loan. “Please raise the mills right now.”
Christina Stout – Special Education Teacher – Spoke in favor of the millage rate increase, saying class sizes will balloon. “Cutting programs will not save us. It will cost us.”
Dr. Lavonda Jones – Bulloch NAACP member spoke in favor of the millage rate increase.
Jennifer Davis – Executive Director of Statesboro Bulloch Chamber of Commerce spoke in favor of the millage rate increase. She said the BOE’s job was not to kick the can down the road. “If you ran on a platform of lowering taxes, you ran for the wrong board.”
Ben Watkins – Citizen – Said he was in favor of the millage rate increase. “One of you made the comment that it’s not our fault that costs are going up. It’s not our fault. It’s our responsibility.”
Adrienne Malone – Bulloch County Schools employee – Spoke in favor of the millage rate increase, saying she was not sure what she could add about the value of the programs at risk of being cut.
Michelle Martin – Parent of two children in Bulloch Schools. She spoke in favor of the millage rate increase. She admonished the Board for the full millage rate rollbacks, saying temporary relief has long term consequences. She noted that a vote to keep the millage rate the same is a vote for lower graduation rates.
Erin Martin – Spoke in favor of the millage rate increase. She said schools operate only work because teachers are already undervalued and underfunded, stating that they work considerable hours for free.
“What is your vote telling us about what you value? How much do you care about our children? Are you willing to invest now for greater gains later?”
Tracy Perryman – An educator, spoke in favor of the millage rate increase. “What kind of people will we be? Will we turn our backs or extend our hands? Please, don’t take away their second chance. Because when we save TLC, we’re not just saving a program, we’re saving a soul.”
Elise Gottlieb – Social/Emotional Learning Specialist employed by Bulloch County Schools – Spoke in favor of the millage rate increase and against cutting any of the 125 positions that may be phased out in the next budget year. She said she worried about the long term damage the cuts would have on the mental health of students. “Raising the millage rate is not an easy decision, but it is necessary. It takes a village to raise a child.”
Kristen Turner – Lead Teacher for Transition Learning Center for Bulloch Schools – Spoke in favor of the millage rate increase. She voiced concerns about class size and the purpose of the Board decisions.
“Your purpose is to ensure every student, especially the most vulnerable, those that are in need, receive a quality education with certified teachers…Don’t let political pressure sway you.” She said choosing not to raise the millage rate would hurt the children they chose to serve. “Let us do our job, the job that you asked us to do 16 years ago. Board, invest in children’s lives.”
Amy Hackney – Mother with two children in Bulloch County Schools – Spoke in favor of the increase and said strong schools help the economy. “Public schools aren’t just for families like mine. We all benefit when children are well educated.” She said the increase is only $0.82 a day for qualified teachers.
Cynthia Dean – Addressed the Board in support of the millage rate increase. She said the programs on the chopping block for 2026-2027 have a huge impact on children. She said 125 positions being cut will rob students of the chance to hear the words that matter most.
Karen Awful – a parent and community member – spoke in favor of the millage rate increase and asked the Board to invest in her daughter and others by raising the millage rate.
Jessica ___(inaudible)__ – A community member, spoke in favor of the millage rate increase. “We shouldn’t have our children guessing about whether these programs are going to be available for them. Plan ahead. Do it now. Raise the millage rate.”
Sandra Futch – A retired educator spoke in favor of teachers and children.
“You can change the programs, you can change the tests, the guided reading, you can change all that, but when it comes down to it, you’ve got to have good teachers,” she said. She said too much money was being funneled to places like athletics instead of education.
- Selina Anderson – a mother of two, spoke but did not explicitly state her position on the millage rate. She said her family recently moved to Bulloch County for the schools.
- Peter Anderson – a 7th grade student, asked the Board not to cut programs.
- Isaac Anderson – a 4th grade student, also asked the Board not to cut programs.
Lawton Sack – A citizen, spoke against the millage rate increase. He asked the Board to consider keeping property taxes low while holding off until other initiatives are worked out. He mentioned work with Senator Blake Tillery & Representative Scott Hilton regarding the funding issues created by the state. He said the Board of Education is sitting on $46 million in taxpayer dollars, meaning the school system has time to make decisions. He also said cuts aren’t necessary and the suggestions thus far have come from the Superintendent.
Suzanne Hallman – a mother of two, said “this isn’t the best system, but it could be.” She said “We need more, not less.” She said the target customer is not taxpayers, but children in the school system. She said this is about ‘paying our share’ as it isn’t about the individual. She asked the Board to increase the millage rate.
Tim Roundtree – a Bulloch County School system employee, asked the employees to stand, and more than 50% of the crowd stood. He asked the Board to give the Superintendent the 3 mills he needs.
Charles Penny – City Manager for the City of Statesboro spoke in favor of the millage rate increase. He said the Board would decide if the school system continued to remain competitive.
Superintendent Commentary
Superintendent Charles Wilson offered comments after public participation. He said listening to the public comments was ‘very easy.’ He also said it would be disingenuous for him to apologize for the anxiety he may have caused for addressing the reality that the school system faces.
“I’m being honest with you. You have to understand what it is we’re facing. What we’re seeing now is a community dynamic around problem solving,” Wilson said.
Wilson went on to recap budgetary notes, stating that the FY 2026 budget reflected a $13.2 million deficit, “knowing that significant measures would have to be taken to reduce spending for FY 2027.” He said he told Board members that the FY 2026 budget was based on the rollback millage rate.
“The Board maintained a firm position that it did not want to increase taxes. It was fully disclosed by the superintendent that cuts would have to be made for FY 2027, beginning in July/August 2025, to resolve the $15 million projected deficit for FY 2027,” noting that the school system needs two months of cash reserves. He said it was bad business to carry less and need to utilize the Tax Anticipation Note (TAN) process to pay bills.
The 3 mill increase, Wilson said, will amount of $325 per year for the average non-homestead property and $349 for the average homestead property.
He said even the three mill increase will put the Board in a position to cut the FY 2027 budget by $3.5 million. Still, he noted that if it was the will of the Board to keep the millage rate the same or at the rollback rate, he would facilitate the process to cut the budget to account for the deficit.
Board Vote
Clifton – YES
Cook – YES
Hill – YES
Lanier – NO
Martin – YES
Mock – NO
Nevil – NO
Williams – YES
