Republic Services employee union votes for strike ► PAGE 3
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Tax levy hearings draw mixed input By JON WILCOX jon@appenmedia.com
JON WILCOX/APPEN MEDIA
The Johns Creek City Council convenes at a July 28 meeting after two public hearings on the proposed property tax rate for 2025.
JOHNS CREEK, Ga. — The City of Johns Creek is proposing a property tax rate for 2025 that maintains the current assessment of 3.646 mills. The City Council held the first two of three public hearings on the millage rate at 11 a.m. and 6 p.m. July 14. Council members will take a final vote to set the rate at a regularly scheduled meeting July 28 following a final public hearing that night. The levy of 3.646 mills has been maintained since 2023. By law, the rate represents a tax increase because the city will be receiving more revenue from new construction and the growth in value of existing properties. To keep revenues flat, the city would have to adopt a “rollback rate” of 3.492 mills. One mill generates $1 for every $1,000 of a property’s taxable value, which by state law is 40 percent of a property’s real — or fair market — value. A home that is worth $100,000 on the market would have a taxable value of $40,000, and a levy of 1 mill would cost the homeowner $40 in taxes.
See LEVY, Page 21
Cities join Milton in bid to reverse law suit decision By SARAH COYNE sarah@appenmedia.com MILTON, Ga. — More than 61 cities have signed onto a friend of the court brief supporting the City of Milton in a $35 million wrongful death lawsuit.
The joint amicus brief, or letter of support, comes as the Georgia Supreme Court is poised to review the case sometime in late October. The case is Chang v. City of Milton. On Nov. 18, 2016, Josh Chang, a Yale University student, was killed in a
single-car accident after his car struck a concrete planter on the shoulder of Batesville Road in Milton. Chang’s parents sued the city for wrongful death and won after a Fulton County State Court jury ruled in their favor, ordering the city to pay more
than $32.5 million in damages. According to the ruling, the court found enough evidence of negligence and cited inconsistent testimony on the part of Milton.
See DECISION, Page 21
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