Why Gwinnett school board is expected to raise property taxes | www.myajc.com

Gwinnett County property tax revenues have fallen so far and so fast that the school system can’t keep up with payments on its long-term debt without going back to taxpayers for more money.

That’s the main reason why the school board is expected to vote tonight to raise property taxes for the first time in eight years, officials said.

The proposed tax increase would add an extra $75.80 to the tax bill on a $150,000 house, or $101.80 on a $200,000 house, according to school system projections.

More than half of the extra money that’s raised will go to cover $47 million in principal and interest that the school system will owe in fiscal 2014 on long-term debt it has been carrying from 2008 or earlier, said Rick Cost, chief financial officer.

Until the housing market collapse, which had the domino effect of bringing down property values and property tax collections, the district was able to meet its debt payments without raising taxes, Cost said.

But between 2009 and 2013, a 1.30-mill of tax dedicated to paying the district’s long-term debt went from bringing in $40 million a year to bringing in $31 million a year in 2013, he said.

The extent of the loss was one “we couldn’t even imagine,” Cost said. “Nobody could have.”

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