SB 44: Equalization Grants, Annual Calculations, and Allocation; the definition of the term "qualified local school system" by reducing the minimum required millage rate; revise

Georgia's equalization grant program sends extra state funding to local school systems with low property tax digests, but only if those systems levy a high enough millage rate (the local property tax rate that funds schools). Under prior law, that minimum had risen over time to 14 mills. This bill lowers the minimum required millage rate or equivalent millage rate to 10 mills, starting July 1, 2025. The bill also adds a penalty: if a school system's millage rate drops below the 10-mill minimum after its grant has already been calculated for the year, the state will cut that grant by 25 percent through a midterm adjustment. Finally, it requires the Department of Education to report annually, by September 1, on which school systems received equalization grants, including systems that received grants while taxing below 10 mills, and to send that report to House and Senate budget and education committees and state budget offices.

• Lowers the minimum millage rate (local property tax rate) required for a school system to count as a 'qualified local school system' eligible for equalization grants, from 14 mills to 10 mills, effective July 1, 2025.
• Adds a midterm adjustment rule cutting a school system's equalization grant to 75 percent of its original amount if the system drops its millage rate below 10 mills after the grant was already calculated.
• Requires the Department of Education to prepare an annual report listing each grant recipient's initial grant amount, any midterm cut, and total grants received over the previous ten years.
• Requires that annual report to flag any school system that received a grant while taxing below 10 mills, and to be sent to House and Senate budget and education committees and budget office directors by September 1 each year.
• Repeals any existing state laws that conflict with these changes.

Local school systems and school boards that rely on state equalization grants, especially those with lower property tax digests and lower millage rates; local taxpayers whose property tax rates fund schools; and the Georgia Department of Education, which must calculate grants and produce the new annual report.

School systems that previously had to tax at 14 mills to qualify for extra state funding can now qualify at 10 mills, potentially opening grant eligibility to more districts or letting some lower their tax rates. Districts that cut their rate below 10 mills after their grant is set would lose a quarter of that funding.

• Section 1 rewrites O.C.G.A. § 20-2-165(a)(9)(C), replacing the phased increases up to 14 mills with a single new minimum of 10 mills or equivalent millage, effective July 1, 2025.
• Section 1 adds subsection (d.1), requiring a midterm reduction to 75 percent of a school system's equalization grant if its millage rate falls below 10 mills after the grant amount was already calculated for the year.
• Section 1 adds subsection (f), requiring the Department of Education to compile and submit an annual report by September 1 on grant amounts, midterm adjustments, and systems that received grants while under the 10-mill threshold.
• Section 2 repeals any conflicting laws.

1. 2025-05-14Effective Date 2025-07-01
2. 2025-05-14Act 280
3. 2025-05-14Senate Date Signed by Governor (Senado)
4. 2025-04-07Senate Sent to Governor (Senado)
5. 2025-03-28House Passed/Adopted (Cámara de Representantes)
6. 2025-03-28House Third Readers (Cámara de Representantes)
7. 2025-03-18House Committee Favorably Reported (Cámara de Representantes)
8. 2025-02-19House Second Readers (Cámara de Representantes)

• Sam Watson (R, SD-011)Patrocinador principal
• Russ Goodman (R, SD-008)
• Carden Summers (R, SD-013)
• Chuck Hufstetler (R, SD-052)
• John Kennedy (R, SD-018)
• Jason Anavitarte (R, SD-031)
• Charles Cannon (R, HD-172)

1. AprobadaVotación: Senado13 de febrero de 2025

   51 a favor, 0 en contra (0 sin votar, 5 ausentes)

   Passage By Substitute: Senate Vote #51

2. AprobadaVotación: Cámara de Representantes28 de marzo de 2025

   138 a favor, 23 en contra (3 sin votar, 16 ausentes)

   Passage: House Vote #336

• school funding
• property taxes
• equalization grants
• Georgia Department of Education
• millage rates