Sandy Springs budget counts on $49.5 million in property taxes ahead of rate hearings

Sandy Springs heads into its property-tax hearings with a spending plan already approved and a tax rate still to be set, according to the city's notice. The fiscal 2027 budget counts on $49.5 million in property-tax revenue—but that forecast is not a measure of how much an individual homeowner's bill would change.⁠[1][2]

The budget, marked approved June 16, uses two different comparisons for the preceding fiscal year. Its $49.5 million property-tax forecast is $1.75 million above the revised FY26 budget of $47.75 million. But it is $600,000 below the $50.1 million in FY26 collections projected in the same document.⁠[2]

That distinction matters when reading the table's rounded 4% increase: it compares revenue forecasts against the revised budget, not against projected collections. It does not establish a 4% increase in the tax rate or in homeowners' bills.⁠[1][2]

The spending plan also increases General Fund transfers to capital projects and stormwater. It assigns $22.3 million to capital projects, up from $18.244 million in the revised FY26 budget, and $4.65 million to stormwater, up from $3.42 million. Those are budget allocations—not a calculation of the additional revenue the October tax proposal would generate.⁠[1][2]

The city's Oct. 7 notice uses a different benchmark: the rollback rate, which accounts for property reassessments. The city describes that as the rate that would generate the same total revenue as last year's rate would have produced without reassessments. Exceeding that benchmark does not necessarily mean increasing the rate compared with last year.⁠[1]

The notice describes the proposed increase as “.2635 percentage” above the rollback rate, without supplying either the proposed rate or the rollback rate. The June revenue forecast does not resolve that wording or establish household effects. The notice also does not identify when the final-rate decision will be made.⁠[1][2]

Residents can address the proposal Oct. 20 at 6 p.m. at City Hall, 1 Galambos Way. Two additional hearings are scheduled there Nov. 3 at 8:30 a.m. and 6 p.m.; the city identifies the evening session as the final public hearing.⁠[1]