Council holds property-tax rate at 4.731 mills; rollback numbers still clash

Sandy Springs City Council voted unanimously Nov. 3 to keep the city’s property-tax rate at 4.731 mills for fiscal 2027, according to the city’s meeting minutes. The vote settles the rate—but the supporting documents still give opposite answers about whether it exceeds Georgia’s rollback benchmark.⁠[1][2]

Chief Financial Officer Toni Carlisle’s memo for the Nov. 3 meeting says the unchanged rate exceeds rollback because taxable property values increased. It describes a 0.26% tax increase after the rollback calculation, which accounts for reassessments rather than simply comparing this year’s rate with last year’s.⁠[2]

The attached rollback worksheet points the other way. It lists a final rollback rate equivalent to 4.7435 mills, higher than the adopted 4.731 mills, and displays “Percentage Tax Increase” as -0.26301%. On those figures, the adopted rate is below rollback, not above it.⁠[1][2]

We flagged this mismatch in our earlier tax-hearing coverage, when the rate was still a proposal. Council has now approved it under ordinance No. 2026-11-027 after the third and final hearing. The minutes record no public comment at that hearing and do not explain the conflicting figures.⁠[1][2]

For homeowners, a steady rate is not a promise of a steady bill. The rate-setting materials base the levy on taxable property value and list homestead exemptions; they do not calculate an individual homeowner’s bill. Neither the memo’s positive percentage nor the worksheet’s negative one establishes how that bill will change.⁠[2]

Source note: The minutes carry a Nov. 17, 2026 approval date, later than this report. This account relies on their record of the Nov. 3 vote, not on treating the minutes as already approved.⁠[1]