The Fiscal Year 2027 Mayor’s Recommended Budget for July 1, 2026, through June 30, 2027, for the Athens-Clarke County Unified Government (ACCGov) has been submitted to the Commission for review. The budget is balanced and includes a General Fund Operating and Capital Budget that totals $212.5 million for FY27, which is $10.5 million more than the FY26 budget.   

The FY27 Mayor’s Recommended Budget proposes a millage rate of 12.25 for property tax year 2026 - no change from the current rate. Each mill of this rate produces $1 of taxes for every $1,000 of assessed property value as determined by the Tax Assessor’s Office. 

Before the Athens-Clarke County Mayor and Commission sets the 2026 millage rate, Georgia law requires three public hearings to allow the public an opportunity to express their opinions on the tax millage rate.

Additional specific information on the budget, including the full FY27 Mayor’s Recommended Budget is available at www.accgov.com/budget.

As the Tax Assessor’s Office updates the estimated market value of taxable property - called the tax digest - Georgia law requires local governments to calculate a "rollback" millage rate. The FY27 rollback millage rate is calculated as the millage rate needed to produce the same total revenue on the 2026 tax digest that the prior year millage rate would have produced had no reassessments or inflationary increases occurred to taxable property.

The recommended 12.25 millage rate for 2026 would increase estimated property tax revenues by 3.80% over the rollback millage rate. This increase in revenue over the rollback millage rate is due to inflationary growth or reassessment growth in the market value of existing real property.

This does not mean all property owners will see a 3.80% increase in their property taxes. Individual taxes are based on the current assessed value of real property that may remain the same, increase, or decrease depending on the market value of each parcel of property.

Without this tentative property tax revenue increase, the FY27 millage rate would be no more than 11.801 mills. The proposed tax increase for a home with a fair market value of $400,000 is approximately $60.62 and the proposed tax increase for non-homestead property with a fair market value of $500,000 is approximately $89.80.

This is the second year that the property taxes homeowners pay to ACCGov will be affected by the floating homestead exemption approved by voters in November 2024.  When the value of a primary residence increases above the rate of inflation, set at 2.7% for 2026 by the Georgia Department of Revenue, a floating homestead exemption is designed to offset that inflationary increase with a higher exemption, thus reducing the taxable value of the property. As the taxable value increases above the rate of inflation, the tax exemption also increases or “floats” higher.  

The Athens-Clarke County Mayor & Commission is scheduled to adopt the FY27 Budget and 2026 millage rate at a Special Called Session on Tuesday, June 09, 2026, at 6:00 PM. 

Before the Athens-Clarke County Mayor and Commission finalizes the FY27 Budget and sets the 2026 millage rate, Georgia law requires three public hearings to allow the public an opportunity to express their opinions on the increase. In addition to these three required public hearings, the Athens-Clarke County Commission reviews the FY27 Mayor’s Recommended Budget at a series of other meetings. 

The remaining budget-related meetings take place: 

• Tuesday, May 12 – 1:00 PM - Mayor & Commission budget review following the work session at 120 West Dougherty Street, Government Building Auditorium
• Thursday, May 14 – 1:00 PM – Mayor & Commission budget review following the work session at 120 West Dougherty Street, Government Building Auditorium 
• Wednesday, May 20 (moved due to Election Day) – 6:00 PM – Mayor & Commission Agenda Setting Session, Taxpayer Bill of Rights Public Hearing #1 of 3 & Public Hearing on the FY27 Budget at 301 College Avenue, City Hall Commission Chamber
• Thursday, May 21 – 5:30 PM – Mayor & Commission review of quasi-governmental agencies and, if needed, a budget review following at 120 West Dougherty Street, Government Building Auditorium
• Tuesday, June 2 – 6:00 PM – Mayor & Commission Regular Voting Meeting & Taxpayer Bill of Rights Public Hearing #2 of 3 and, if needed, a budget review following the regular session at 301 College Avenue, City Hall Commission Chamber
• Thursday, June 4 – 6:00 PM – Mayor & Commission budget review and Taxpayer Bill of Rights Public Hearing #3 of 3 at 301 College Avenue, City Hall Commission Chamber
• Tuesday, June 9 – 6:00 PM – Mayor & Commission Special Called Session scheduled adoption of the FY27 Budget and the 2026 tax millage rate at 301 College Avenue, City Hall Commission Chamber  

All budget review meetings will be streamed live online and available for on-demand viewing at www.accgov.com/videos, on the ACCGov YouTube channel, and on the ACCGov Roku, Apple TV, and Fire TV channels. Meetings held at City Hall will also be broadcast live and rebroadcast on ACTV Cable Channel 180 and the ACCGov Facebook page.   

Public comment on the FY27 Budget will also be accepted online through www.accgov.com/agendas. The FY27 Mayor’s Recommended Budget can be reviewed on Athens-Clarke County’s Web site at www.accgov.com/budget. A budget summary section is available as part of the overall budget document.  

For additional meeting information and agendas, visit www.accgov.com/clerkofcommission or call the ACCGov Clerk of Commission's Office at 706-613-3031 for more information.