Does The Hall County BOE Have to Have a Yearly Budget Meeting? Let's Investigate
During the lengthy, for them, Hall County School District Board of Education meeting on July 14th there was one topic that flew right over everyone's head at the moment. It was a comment by Superintendent Will Schofield that the BOE should be able to pass their yearly budget without holding a hearing and have public input. Then Jonothan Boykin, the finance officer, responded and made a statement that they had to.
Schofield seems to think that since they have to accept the tax rollback and are not increasing millage rates for the 2025-26 tax year that they don't have to have a public hearing on the budget. One would think after 20 years in office he would know the law on this. Boykin says yes, Schofield says no. The video clip of the interchange will be posted below.
We did some digging, as we only want the truth, and emailed some of the board members and we got some responses that surprised us. I will not reveal the emails as we don't want to throw anyone under the bus. It is not fair. The only thing that we were able to confirm is that the Hall County School Board is a dumpster fire. They prove to be incompetent and don't seem to care to even try to find answers for taxpayers that contact them.
Who is Actually in Charge Here?
People need to remember that Schofield works for the Board of Education. Not the other way around. The way these meetings go and how they are ran, you would think Schofield called the shots. Our Chairman does nothing at these meetings.
One of the elected members refused to answer the email with anything other than the budget has been posted on the Board of Education website and sent the link to the PDF. Here that is 2025/2026 Proposed Budget. Never mentioned anything. Wasn't even concerned with it. This is unacceptable and doing nothing but passing the buck. They could have at least asked the county attorney or someone who may know. Here is the board of education simbli eboard where they post things, Link.
We got another email that detailed how the process would go. Here is a synopsis of what was sent, and then I will post the State Law and links to the pages.
If a school district or local government chooses a millage rate above the rollback rate, then THREE hearings must be conducted before the entity can finalize the rate. If the district chooses a millage rate that is the same or less as the rollback rate, then only a ONE hearing is required.
Here is the State Statute and a link to the source it is from
"(f) At least one week prior to the meeting of the governing authority at which adoption of the budget ordinance or resolution will be considered, the governing authority shall conduct a public hearing, at which time any persons wishing to be heard on the budget may appear."
Source: Justia.com
You can click the arrows to go back or forward to read the entire law.
What is the Rollback Rate When Determining Property Taxes?
What is the rollback rate? The rollback rate is the millage rate at which a homeowner's tax bill would theoretically stay the same amount as the previous year. This would be true even if the assessed value of their home increased.
At the July 14th meeting the suggestion for a full rollback for the coming year was discussed. If the board members agree with a full rollback, then ONE SINGLE public hearing would be held. The hearing would be at one of the board meetings in August or September, the way it is looking. It will depend on when the board of education receives the final tax digest from the tax commissioner’s office.
No one knows when this will be as they State of Georgia is way behind because of the Statewide implementation of Georgia House Bill 581 in this last election. For those that don't know what HB 581 is about the Cliff's Notes are below.
"HB 581, also known as the "Save Our Homes Act," aimed to provide property tax relief by capping the increase in assessed home values to the rate of inflation. However, local governments and school districts were given the option to opt out of this provision"
Hall County Board of Education did not opt out, like the County Commission. So they have to figure in this bill and the local ordinance that put even further restrictions on how much they could increase property taxes. It is more strict than they State. We will do a whole other column on this. Too much to include in this one.
The meeting could be anywhere from August through October. So now we wait.
I apologize if some of these recordings are hard to hear. The Board of Education refuses to make people speak into the microphones. They also refuse to put their meeting online in an archive so one can go back and watch them at any time. They live stream them so they stay in compliance of State Law. That is it. We do the best we can to make an archive and post the meetings for the ones who can't make it.
You can see all the Board of Education meetings, and other videos, we have recorded at the North Ga Advocate YouTube page.
Hall County BOE Exchange Between Schofield and Boykin:
Entire July 14, 2025 School Board Meeting
You can contact everyone at the Central Office and the Board of Education at the links below.
Hall County School District Central Office: Link
Hall County BOE Members: Link
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