Catoosa County Public Schools · HD3 Civic Resource
Your Schools. Your Money. Your Funding Gap.
Enter your home's value. See what you contribute, what the state takes back, and what fixing the formula would mean for your tax bill.
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Catoosa County average: $295,000 · Assessed at 40% of market value per Georgia law
Your annual school tax
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— per day
Your assessed value
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40% of market value
Your share of one teacher's total annual cost
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Total cost to employ one teacher: $82,775/yr (salary + TRS pension + health insurance + FICA)
Under the FY27 adopted budget
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Your annual school tax at the adopted 15.75 mill rate, up from 14.346 mills
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more per year than the current rate
14.346 → 15.75
Millage rate FY26 actual → FY27 adopted
~10,000
CCPS students (FTE, FY27 estimate)
60% / 40%
State vs. local funding split
1,600+
CCPS employees, county's largest employer
Part One
Where We Are Now
Why Your Bill Went Up
HB 30 wasn't a tax cut. It was a tax shift.
CCPS still needs the same amount of money to run its schools. HB 30 didn't change that. What it changed is who pays. Starting in 2027, homeowners 67 and older no longer pay school taxes on $100,000 of their home's value. CCPS still has to collect that $3 million from somewhere, so the millage rate rises on everyone else's home to make up the difference. This is the single biggest reason behind the millage increase shown above: not new spending, a smaller pool of taxpayers covering the same bill.
School revenue shifted away from exempt homeowners, per year
$3,000,000
Starting tax year 2027, per CCPS's own financial analysis
Who gets the exemption
Age 67+
No income limit, $100,000 of home value, school taxes only
Who covers the difference
Everyone else
Every household that doesn't qualify, through a higher millage rate
🎯 Targeted, not broad. Property tax exemptions in Georgia can be written to apply across every taxing authority, county, city, and school, together. HB 30 was written to apply only to the school district's share. Not county. Not city. Just schools.
📋 This was predicted before the first vote. Before HB 30 was approved by the legislature, CCPS released its own financial analysis projecting this $3 million shift, and Superintendent Chance Nix spoke publicly against the bill. That number was public before the bill ever passed.
⏱️ Why the increase starts now, not 2027. CCPS collects most of its property tax revenue in December and January but needs funding year-round. Part of this year's increase collects some of that 2027 shortfall in advance, avoiding a cash crunch when the exemption actually takes effect.
HB 30 (2025, as passed by the Georgia House and Senate) creates a $100,000 school district homestead exemption for Catoosa County residents 67 and older, approved by Catoosa County voters in May 2026, effective January 1, 2027. The $3 million annual figure is CCPS's own financial analysis, reported by Local 3 News (January 29, 2025), which also includes a statement from Superintendent Chance Nix.
Budget At A Glance
90 cents of every dollar goes to people. Not paperwork.
Before looking at what the state does and doesn't fund, here's what CCPS itself does with the money it has. For every $100 CCPS spends, more than $90 goes directly to personnel and classroom operations. Administration, at every level combined, is 9%.
Personnel & classroom operations
90%
Salaries, healthcare, and state-mandated retirement benefits for teachers and staff
School administration
8%
Principals, assistant principals, and building leadership
District office administration
1%
Central system leadership and operational oversight
How CCPS's 9% administration rate compares
CCPS: 9%
6% · very efficient9-11% · typical20% · higher, closer review
CCPS's FY27 budget puts total administration (general administration, school administration, and business services combined) at 8.77%. Georgia's statewide average runs 9% to 11%; CCPS sits at the low end of that range.
The Funding Cliff
Growing property values are costing CCPS $10.2 million.
When your home value goes up, the state assumes Catoosa is wealthier, so it deducts more through the Local Fair Share AND reduces the Equalization grant that was supposed to offset it. The result: a $10.2M structural loss in net state support in just three years.
Local Fair Share deduction vs. Equalization grant, FY22 to FY27
FY22
LFS
$8.8M
EQ
$9.9M
+$1.1M
FY23
LFS
$9.7M
EQ
$7.0M
−$2.7M
FY24
LFS
$11.9M
EQ
$4.2M
−$7.7M
FY25
LFS
$13.1M
EQ
$3.9M
−$9.1M
FY27
LFS
$13.6M
EQ
$6.7M
−$6.9M
📉 The swing: From a net positive of +$1.1M in FY22 to a net negative of −$9.1M in FY25. That's a $10.2 million structural loss in net state support, driven largely by the formula's automatic response to rising property values. Catoosa didn't do anything wrong. The formula just works this way.
📊 FY27 update: The state's proposed Equalization grant rose to $6.7M, narrowing the net loss to roughly −$6.9M. The FY22-FY25 pattern is the core, multi-year evidence for how the formula behaves, and one better year doesn't undo it.
Part Two
What Put Us Here
The Illusion of Record Funding
State funding looks like it's growing. Much of the increase never reaches classrooms.
CCPS's state allotment grew from ~$54.9M (FY14) to over $90M (FY26). But before that money reaches a single classroom, the state requires districts to send significant portions straight back out the door to fund the state's own pension and health insurance systems. As CCPS's own Finance Department put it: "New mandate costs consume the new state money just to maintain the exact same position. New money is simply covering the increased cost of the status quo."
Where new state dollars go before reaching classrooms — CCPS FY26
Gross State Allotment to CCPS
~$90M+
FY26 total — up from ~$54.9M in FY14. Politicians call this "record funding."
↓
Carved Out → Teachers Retirement System (TRS)
+$800,000 in new costs (FY26 alone)
The TRS employer rate rose from 20.78% to 21.91% in FY26, and has climbed from 12.28% in FY14 — an 80% increase in 12 years. For every $100 CCPS pays an educator, nearly $22 goes back to the state retirement system.
$22
per $100 of salary to state
Carved Out → State Health Benefit Plan (SHBP)
+$2,920,000 in new costs (FY26 alone)
SHBP employer cost was flat at ~$945/mo from FY14 through FY23. Then: $1,580 (FY24), $1,760 (FY25), $1,885 (FY26). The state effectively doubled the per-employee cost in 36 months. CCPS absorbed $1.2M in new certified staff costs + $1.72M in classified staff costs in a single year.
2×
cost increase in 36 months
Net Result for Classrooms & Operations
In FY26, TRS and SHBP mandate increases alone consumed $3.72M in new costs before a single new teacher was hired or program expanded. Total funding went up. Usable discretionary funding stayed nearly flat. The state is funding its own cost increases through the district.
$3.72M
consumed by mandates in FY26 alone
All figures from CCPS public documents. TRS increase ($800K) and SHBP increases for certified staff ($1.2M) and classified staff ($1.72M) from the CCPS FY26 Public Budget Hearing Presentation. Allotment history and quote from CCPS "The Illusion of New Money" financial analysis. TRS rate history from Teachers Retirement System of Georgia employer contribution tables.
Passing the Buck to Catoosa County
The state used to pay this. In 2012, it stopped.
Until 2012, Georgia paid the employer share of health insurance for every school employee, teachers and classified staff alike. In 2011, Georgia's Republican-controlled House and Senate cut $30 million from the state budget line that covered it, over the Governor's own recommendation to keep it. The same party has held the Governor's office, House, and Senate ever since, and the funding has never returned. CCPS has covered the full cost locally ever since, roughly $11 million a year today.
CCPS classified employees enrolled in health coverage
~475 estimated for 2027
Annual cost, 100% funded by Catoosa County
$11,029,500
📋 The state's own school boards agree this is a problem. The Georgia School Boards Association's officially adopted 2026 legislative position: "GSBA supports state funding for employer's cost of health insurance and retirement funding for non-certified personnel with the QBE FTE formula." That's the elected boards of all 180 Georgia school districts, on the record, asking the legislature to fund what it stopped funding in 2012.
Figures are $1,935/mo per enrolled employee for FY27 ($23,220/yr), applied to CCPS's internal projection of roughly 475 classified employees enrolling. Statewide scope and the 2012 policy history from Georgia Budget & Policy Institute reporting. The 2011 line-item history is from the same reporting. GSBA position from the Georgia School Boards Association's 2026 Legislative Positions.
What Was Passed, And What It Cost
The legislature did pass these mandates. Catoosa is still covering the gap.
Not every state requirement is unfunded, and not every one is fully funded either. Most fall somewhere in between: the state requires something, provides some money toward it, and leaves the district to cover the rest. Here's what that looks like in CCPS's own FY27 budget.
Literacy Coaches Partially Funded
Georgia Early Literacy Act (HB 538)
Georgia requires reading intervention support and funds 10 literacy coach positions for CCPS, one per elementary school, through a specific QBE formula line. But the state's per-position funding assumption falls well short of what these positions actually cost to fill.
State provides
$460,492
Actual cost, 10 positions
~$1,000,000
CCPS covers locally
~$540,000
This gap is drawn from CCPS's own FY27 budget figures, and is likely understated. The state's funding assumes an average $65,000 salary, but these roles typically go to veteran teachers with advanced degrees who earn more.
School Safety Technology Currently Funded
HB 268, "Ricky and Alyssa's Law"
Effective July 1, 2026, every Georgia school must have panic button technology, an anonymous reporting system, a behavioral threat assessment team, and updated facility maps. This is a rare example of a mandate the state has funded well so far.
State security grant
$803,539
While a grant currently covers this, the long-term funding is an open question. Unlike other long-term funded projects like literacy coaches, this funding is not provided as a permanent part of the QBE formula.
Mandatory Performance Audit Underbudgeted
HB 754
Georgia requires a 5-year performance and efficiency audit cycle, and doesn't fund it through the QBE formula at all. The full cost lands on CCPS's local budget.
Estimated cost, 5-year cycle
~$500,000
First report alone
$165,000-$190,000
CCPS budgeted, FY27
$125,000
CCPS's own Finance Department revised this line from an initial $30,000 up to $125,000, closer to the estimated $165,000-$190,000 cost of the first audit report alone.
Part Three
What Change Could Look Like
A Lever The State Could Pull
What if the state paid its share again?
The state stopped paying the employer share of health insurance for classified CCPS employees in 2012. CCPS has covered it in full locally ever since, roughly $11 million a year today. Move the slider to see what it would mean for CCPS, and for your tax bill, if the state paid its share again.
If the state paid this share of the cost
0
%
Today, under the 2012 policy
0% state funded
0% (today)← drag to see the state paying its share →100% (pre-2012 policy)
State would contribute
—
At this funding share
CCPS's remaining local cost
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Still covered by Catoosa property taxes
Millage the board could lower CCPS's rate by
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Your savings on a $295,000 home
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per year, if CCPS passed the full savings on to taxpayers. Uses the home value you entered at the top of this page.
What this costs Georgia statewide
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per year, applied to all ~118,000 non-certified school employees statewide
Georgia began FY26 with $14.6 billion in general-fund surplus accounts, per the Georgia Budget & Policy Institute.
Figures are $1,935/mo per enrolled employee for FY27 ($23,220/yr), applied to CCPS's internal projection of roughly 475 classified employees enrolling. Millage reduction assumes CCPS passes full savings to taxpayers, the school board votes on this annually and it is not automatic. Statewide cost based on Georgia's roughly 118,000 non-certified school employees. See "The state used to pay this" earlier on this page for the history and sourcing behind these figures.
Civic education illustration, not an official CCPS or GaDOE projection.
The Reform Calculator
What if the state lowered the Local Fair Share requirement?
The Local Fair Share deduction is calculated by applying a fixed 5-mill rate to Catoosa's property tax digest. The mill rate itself doesn't change, but as property values rise, 5 mills on a bigger digest produces a bigger deduction. The policy question is: what if the legislature lowered that statutory 5-mill floor? Move the slider to see what different floor rates would mean for CCPS and for your tax bill.
Statutory LFS floor (currently 5 mills by law)
5.0
mills applied to digest
Current statutory floor
5 mills (set by law)
↓ Break-even ~1.5 mills
1 mill floor← drag to lower the floor →5 mills (current law)
LFS deduction at this floor rate
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Amount subtracted from CCPS state allotment (5 mills × digest = $13.1M today)
Net LFS balance (deduction minus equalization)
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—
Estimated annual funding improvement for CCPS
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What this means for your property tax bill
Millage reduction possible
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mills the board could lower
Your annual savings
—
on a $295,000 home
What this costs Georgia statewide
—
from general revenue per year
According to the Georgia Budget & Policy Institute, Georgia began FY26 with $14.6 billion in general-fund surplus accounts. This adjustment would not require drawing on that surplus. It would be a reallocation within ongoing general operating revenue through a change to the QBE formula statute. That is a legislative formula change, not a budget appropriation.
The LFS deduction is calculated by the state as (equalized adjusted property tax digest × statutory mill floor / 1,000). The mill rate itself is fixed by statute at 5. What grows is the digest it's applied to. This slider models a hypothetical legislative change to that statutory floor. Equalization estimates are approximated from FY22-FY25 trends and will shift as the digest changes. Millage reduction potential assumes CCPS passes full savings to taxpayers; the school board votes on this annually and it is not automatic. Statewide cost based on Georgia's ~$115M total LFS statewide in FY26, proportionally adjusted.
Note: this 5-mill Local Fair Share floor is a separate mechanism from the 10-mill minimum a district must actually levy to qualify for the full state equalization grant (O.C.G.A. § 20-2-165, effective July 1, 2025). Both are measured in mills, but they do different jobs: LFS sets the assumed local contribution used to calculate CCPS's QBE allotment, while the § 20-2-165 minimum is an eligibility floor for equalization funding. Catoosa's actual levied millage is well above 10, so this eligibility floor isn't the constraint here; the LFS floor modeled above is.
These figures are for civic education purposes. Official projections require GaDOE allotment modeling.
What Was Blocked
The legislature did not pass these reforms. Catoosa absorbed the cost.
Georgia's own Department of Education asked the legislature to modernize the 40-year-old QBE formula. Democratic lawmakers introduced bills to do it. Every meaningful reform was blocked. Here's what that inaction costs Catoosa County schools each year.
✕
Did not pass · HB 3 (2023–24 Session)
Poverty Weight for Students
Would have added QBE formula funding for students living in poverty. Georgia was one of only a handful of states without a poverty weight. A separate fiscal note for a related poverty-weight grant estimated over $700M statewide. The bill did not pass.
✕
Died in committee — never received a floor vote. HB 3 was introduced in December 2022 and referred to the House Education Committee, chaired by Rep. Chris Erwin (R-Homer). It was never scheduled for a committee hearing and died at the end of the 2023–24 session. There is no roll call vote to show because the bill never made it to the floor.
i
Sponsored by: Rep. Sandra Scott (D) and five other Democratic members. No Republican co-sponsors.
Georgia's own Dept. of Education requested QBE weights for bus drivers, custodians, paraprofessionals, nurses, and counselors. Not acted on. These positions are paid 100% from local property taxes.
✕
Never introduced as a bill. The Georgia Department of Education — led by Republican State School Superintendent Richard Woods — formally listed formula weights for support staff as a 2025 legislative priority. The Republican-controlled legislature did not introduce or act on this request during the 2025 session.
i
Why this matters: This wasn't a Democratic proposal that got blocked by the majority. It was the state's own education agency asking the legislature to modernize a formula that hasn't been updated since 1985. The request went unanswered.
~$688K
Est. Catoosa/yr
✕
Did not pass · HB 712 (2023–24 Session)
Transportation Funding Rebalance
The state covers only a portion of school transportation costs. Research suggests the state share may cover less than half of actual district expenditures statewide. CCPS spends over $7.1M on transportation annually. A rebalanced formula would shift more of this state-mandated cost back to the state. Did not pass.
✕
Died in committee — never received a floor vote. HB 712 was referred to the House Education Committee in the 2023–24 session, chaired by Rep. Chris Erwin (R-Homer). It was never scheduled for a hearing and died at session's end. There is no roll call vote because it never reached the floor.
i
Sponsored by: Rep. Sandra Scott (D). No Republican co-sponsors.
Would have modernized QBE weights based on the 2015 Education Reform Commission's own recommendations, a commission created by a Republican governor. Never received a committee hearing.
✕
Never received a committee hearing. HB 796 was introduced March 21, 2025, referred to the House Education Committee, and received no further action. The 2025 session adjourned April 4, 2025 — the bill had been in committee for two weeks and was never scheduled for a hearing. There is no vote record of any kind.
i
Sponsored by: Reps. Karen Lupton (D-83rd), Marvin Lim (D-98th), and David Wilkerson (D-38th). The bill's recommendations came directly from a commission created under Gov. Nathan Deal (R) in 2015. That commission's findings have sat unimplemented for a decade.
i
The same three legislators tried again in 2026, with a smaller ask. HB 1604 would have only required the state's own task force reviewing these formula weights to meet every two years instead of every three, a procedural change with no direct cost. It also received no hearing and no vote. Even a bill asking the state to review its own outdated formula more often could not get a floor vote.