Gwinnett Daily Post

LAWRENCEVILLE -- Board members voted unanimously to not increase property taxes Thursday during the Gwinnett County Board of Education meeting.

In a 5-0 vote, school board members approved the total millage rate at 20.55 for the seventh straight year.

The rate determines the amount of tax property owners must pay.

The Gwinnett County Board of Education unanimously adopted a $1.7 billion budget in May for the upcoming school year.

The budget is $111 million less than the current year's budget. Although spending cuts were necessary to balance the budget, board member Mary Kay Murphy noted that no employees were laid off as a result of the cuts.

More than half of the budget's beginning $75 million revenue shortfall -- $42 million -- was attributed to the decline in local revenue, which is property tax.