Roswell is proposing a 7.732 mill city property-tax rate for 2026, up from 4.949 mills last year. The increase is significant, but the larger question is whether Roswell can grow more recurring commercial revenue so homeowners do not remain the first place the City looks when costs rise.
Reported and explained by Cary Blumenfeld | BrokerBroDad News, BBDN
The City of Roswell has advertised a proposed 2026 property-tax rate of 7.732 mills, compared with the 4.949 mills adopted for 2025.
Comparing those two City of Roswell rates, the proposal is approximately 56% higher.
But that number needs two important qualifications.
First, it does not mean a Roswell homeowner’s entire property-tax bill would increase by 56%. The City of Roswell is only one taxing authority on a typical bill, alongside Fulton County and Fulton County Schools. Roswell says its city portion currently represents about 16% of the typical combined bill.
Second, the 7.732 rate is proposed, not approved. Public meetings are scheduled throughout September, with potential adoption on September 28.
Because Roswell entered 2026 with a new mayoral administration, this should not be reduced to a simple story about one administration suddenly raising taxes. Mayor Mary Robichaux was first elected as mayor in 2026. The current administration inherited Roswell’s infrastructure, municipal workforce, bond obligations, operating expenses and an economic-development pipeline built over several years.
That makes the more useful question:
How much of Roswell’s future revenue must continue coming from homeowners, and how much could come from growing the city’s commercial economy?
What could the proposed rate cost?
Roswell uses a home with a fair-market value of $575,000 as its published example. At the standard 40% assessed value, that produces an assessed value of $230,000.
- At the 2025 city rate of 4.949 mills: approximately $1,138.27 in City of Roswell property tax.
- At the proposed 2026 rate of 7.732 mills: approximately $1,778.
- Difference: roughly $640 more per year before exemptions.
The actual impact would vary by assessed value and applicable exemptions. This example covers only the City of Roswell portion, not the full Fulton County property-tax bill.
Why does Roswell say it needs the increase?
The proposed 7.732 rate contains two components:
- 6.549 mills for Maintenance & Operations, supporting police, fire, E-911, recreation and parks, transportation, administration and other city services.
- 1.183 mills for debt service, supporting repayment of voter-approved bond debt.
The City says the additional revenue would help address roads and infrastructure, aging facilities and equipment, and continued public-safety investment.
Those are real municipal obligations. Roads, staffing, equipment and facilities require funding now, even when a commercial project will not begin producing meaningful revenue for several years.
Why are residents seeing different millage comparisons?
There are two different comparisons in the public discussion.
The straightforward year-over-year comparison is between Roswell’s 2025 adopted total rate of 4.949 and its 2026 proposed total rate of 7.732. That is the comparison that produces the approximately 56% figure.
Separately, the City says Georgia’s legal public-notice process requires a benchmark rate. Because Fulton County had not supplied all information needed for the current-year adjusted rate, Roswell used a full-rate benchmark of 5.232 mills. Against that benchmark, the proposal is a 2.5-mill increase.
Those calculations serve different purposes and should not be blended together.
Roswell changed administrations in 2026
Mary Robichaux became mayor in 2026, replacing former Mayor Kurt Wilson. The proposed millage increase arrived early in the new administration, but the financial conditions and development pipeline did not begin in January.
Major projects now open, under construction or still being planned were approved, negotiated or initiated at different times and under different councils. That matters because it would be misleading to assign every current cost to the new administration or to suggest the previous administration did nothing to expand Roswell’s economy.
What did Roswell already do to grow its tax base?
Southern Post
Southern Post officially opened in 2024 after transforming a four-acre site near downtown into a mixed-use development with apartments, offices and more than 40,000 square feet of restaurant and retail space.
The important distinction is that regional economic impact is not the same as direct City revenue. Still, occupied commercial space, business activity and a larger downtown customer base can support property taxes, occupation taxes and surrounding businesses.
Hillrose Market
Hillrose Market is planned as a seven-acre mixed-use village beside City Hall. Current City information describes roughly 80,000 square feet of commercial space, residential components, public gathering areas and parking.
Because the project uses strategically located public property and includes City-controlled parking, it also raises a larger policy question: can Roswell structure its valuable public assets to create recurring lease, parking and related revenue while still serving residents?
Hillrose remains a developing project. Projected activity should not be counted as guaranteed current revenue.
Roswell Town Center
The aging shopping-center property near Highway 9 and Holcomb Bridge Road is one of Roswell’s largest redevelopment opportunities. A successful mixed-use redevelopment could make the site more economically productive, but exploration and planning are not the same as final approval, construction or recurring revenue.
The Chambray hotel
The 125-room Chambray boutique hotel broke ground in February 2026 and is currently anticipated to open in summer 2027. The City says it is a $30 million project supported by $14.76 million in third-party financing through the Roswell Development Finance Program, with no financial liability to the City or taxpayers.
If completed and operating as planned, a downtown hotel can broaden Roswell’s revenue base through lodging activity, business activity and visitor spending. It is not current stabilized revenue yet.
Business recruitment and retention
Roswell Inc currently reports more than 5,000 registered businesses, more than 57,500 jobs, a daytime population above 107,500, and approximately $489 million in capital investment since 2017.
It also reports approximately 6.64 million square feet of office inventory with an office vacancy rate of 11.3%. That vacancy is both a concern and an opportunity. Filling existing space can expand employment and business-tax activity faster than waiting for every new project to be designed and constructed.
What else could Roswell do besides raising residential taxes?
None of these strategies is an instant substitute for property-tax revenue. But together they can diversify where future City revenue comes from.
1. Redevelop aging commercial corridors
Roswell has older commercial properties along Holcomb Bridge Road, Highway 9 and other corridors. The goal should not simply be more development. It should be higher-productivity development that combines businesses, employment, dining, hospitality and other uses where infrastructure can support it.
2. Grow hospitality and tourism
Roswell already has the Historic District, the Chattahoochee River, parks, restaurants and regional events. Additional hotels, meetings, tournaments, weddings and cultural programming can bring spending from people who do not live in the city while supporting local businesses.
3. Recruit high-value employers and fill vacant offices
Technology, finance, healthcare, professional services and specialized medical users can add jobs, daytime population and occupation-tax revenue. Existing office vacancy creates a shorter path than ground-up development if Roswell can match employers with available space.
4. Use city-controlled property strategically
Long-term leases, carefully structured development agreements and well-managed parking systems can create recurring revenue without automatically selling irreplaceable public assets. Every agreement still needs transparent terms and a clear public benefit.
5. Measure what the development pipeline actually returns
Residents should be able to see the difference between capital investment, regional economic impact and actual recurring dollars received by the City. A public scorecard could show which projects are operating, what revenue categories they affect and how results compare with original projections.
The hard truth: growth does not solve this year’s bill overnight
Commercial development takes time. A hotel may require years to finance, build and stabilize. A mixed-use redevelopment can take even longer. Some projects also require public infrastructure before private investment follows.
Meanwhile, police officers must be paid, roads repaired, equipment replaced and bond debt serviced.
So the real policy question is not simply whether taxes should ever rise. It is:
How much should homeowners pay now, and what measurable economic-development plan will reduce Roswell’s dependence on residential property taxes in the future?
Questions residents should ask before September 28
- How much additional annual revenue would 7.732 mills generate?
- Exactly how much would go to roads, public safety, facilities, equipment and other categories?
- Which needs are one-time capital costs, and which are permanently higher operating costs?
- How much direct City revenue is currently projected from Southern Post, Hillrose Market, the Chambray and other major projects?
- What share of Roswell’s tax base is residential versus commercial?
- What measurable target does the City have for changing that balance?
- Which commercial corridors are the next priorities for redevelopment?
- How will residents track whether the added tax burden produces the promised improvements?
The decision is not final
- September 14 at 7 p.m.: First Reading at Roswell City Hall.
- September 16 from 6 to 7:30 p.m.: Property-tax town hall at Eagles Nest Church, 2342 Holcomb Bridge Road.
- September 21 at 6 p.m.: Public hearing at Roswell City Hall.
- September 28 at 7 p.m.: Second Reading and potential adoption.
Until City Council takes final action, 7.732 mills should be described as proposed.
Bottom line
Roswell’s previous administration did pursue redevelopment, business recruitment and projects intended to expand the city’s commercial economy. The evidence does not support saying it did nothing to grow revenue outside residential property taxes.
But announcements, investment totals and economic-impact estimates do not automatically answer the question homeowners are asking now: how much recurring revenue has reached City Hall, how much is still projected, and why is a 7.732 mill rate needed before more of the development pipeline matures?
The new administration inherited both sides of that equation. It inherited the costs, and it inherited the opportunity.
For homeowners, this debate should be bigger than 4.949 versus 7.732 mills. It should also be about what kind of economy Roswell wants to build so that five or ten years from now, higher residential taxes are not the first answer when the City needs more money.
Frequently asked questions
Is Roswell raising property taxes by 56%?
Not yet, and that description requires context. The proposed 7.732 City of Roswell millage rate is approximately 56% higher than the 2025 city rate of 4.949 mills. It does not mean a homeowner’s entire Fulton County property-tax bill would increase by 56%.
Has the increase been approved?
No. Potential final adoption is scheduled for September 28, 2026.
Did the previous administration try to grow non-residential revenue?
Yes. Southern Post, Hillrose Market, the Roswell Town Center redevelopment effort, business recruitment and hospitality development all form part of a broader attempt to expand Roswell’s commercial economy. Some projects are operating, while others remain under construction or in planning.
Can economic development replace residential property taxes?
Not completely, and not immediately. Successful commercial development, tourism, employment and business growth can diversify revenue and reduce how heavily future increases fall on homeowners, but municipal services still require dependable annual funding.
How much would a $575,000 home pay?
Roswell’s published example estimates approximately $1,778 in City property tax at the proposed rate before exemptions, compared with approximately $1,138.27 using the 2025 rate.
Download the official documents
- City of Roswell FY2026 Approved Budget
- City of Roswell 2025 Property Tax Brochure
- Roswell City Council Agenda Packet, August 24, 2026
Sources
- City of Roswell Property Taxes and 2026 proposed millage schedule
- City of Roswell millage proposal explanation
- City of Roswell mayor profile
- Roswell Inc market overview
- City of Roswell Southern Post ribbon cutting
- City of Roswell Hillrose Market project page
- City of Roswell Plans and Projects page
- City of Roswell Chambray groundbreaking announcement
Related: Your 2026 Fulton County Tax Bill Isn’t Final: What Roswell Just Did and Roswell’s 2045 Growth Plan: What It Means for Homeowners.
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