The Fayette County Board of Education Wednesday tentatively set the rate for this year's property taxes at 19.84 mills for maintenance and operation and 3.69 mills for its debt service Wednesday.

Taxes for M&O are the same as last year's. The debt service rate drops slightly from the current 4.15 mills.

The rates will be formally adopted following a public hearing Oct. 8.

A three to two vote by the board Wednesday morning shot down a recommendation from superintendent Dr. John DeCotis to increase taxes for maintenance and operation to 20 mills. The slight increase would have provided $370,000, which DeCotis wanted to earmark for technology.

“I'm leery of this,” said board member Woody Shelnutt. “People will think we're in a spiteful mode the day after the SPLOST failure.”

“The voters have spoken and asked for less,” added board member Mickey Littlefield. He and board member Connie Hale said they believed the public would perceive the tax hike as retribution for the failure of the one-cent sales tax vote Tuesday.

“This is a drop in the bucket,” said board chairman Debbie Condon. She pointed out that the decrease in the debt service would actually lower the overall millage rate.

“This is the first of the difficult decisions he (DeCotis) has to make... he will have many more difficult decisions down the road,” Condon said, in light of funds which will not be available from the sales tax. She and board member Greg Powers voted in favor of 20 mills. Shelnutt, Hale and Littlefield voted against it.

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