Dalton school board to hold called meeting Friday
Jan. 12—The Dalton Board of Education has a called meeting Friday at 11:30 a.m. in the third-floor conference room in City Hall, 300 W. Waugh St.
The board members are scheduled to discuss local legislation at the state level on property assessments. They will not take any action on that topic.
Last year, preliminary assessments showed the assessed value of residential properties rose an average of 22% in Whitfield County. Commercial and industrial assessments rose an average of 15%. The assessments are set by the Board of Assessors. Members of that board are appointed by the county Board of Commissioners but the assessors are independent of the county and have to follow rules and regulations set by the state.
In September, representatives from Dalton Public Schools and Whitfield County Schools, the city of Dalton and Whitfield County asked the Board of Assessors to hold property assessments at their 2021 levels. The Board of Assessors did set the assessments at 2021 levels, which required the assessor's office to recalculate the tax digest, which delayed votes by the school boards, the county Board of Commissioners and the Dalton City Council on their tax rates.
At that time, local officials said they would seek some local legislation to deal with large jumps in assessments.
On Jan. 5, at a Greater Dalton Chamber of Commerce breakfast, state Rep. Kasey Carpenter, R-Dalton, said before introducing such a bill he wants to see a consensus among the local taxing authorities — including the county commissioners, the Dalton City Council and the two school boards — on what solution they are looking for.
