The tax order landed at 9:04 PM. Here is the Milton version.

Top of Mind

The judge said yes, and quickly. Hours after Fulton County made its case Tuesday afternoon, Superior Court Judge Shukura L. Ingram signed the order letting the county start billing 2026 property taxes without a finished digest. It was filed at 9:04 that night. We read the signed order so you do not have to.

The mechanics are the ones we walked through last week: interim bills at 2025 tax rates on current 2026 values, targeted for around August 15, due October 15. A second notice comes later, a bill for the difference or a refund, once the digest is finally certified.

If you appealed your 2026 assessment, the order spells your version out: you get billed on the lesser of your 2025 value or 85 percent of your 2026 value, unless you choose full-value billing. If your appeal settles before the digest is approved, the county can rebill you at the settled value.

Now the Milton wrinkle. The order says, three separate times, that it does not apply to the City of Milton, or to Alpharetta or Roswell. Its final paragraph exists just to say so. That reads more dramatic than it is. Your annual property tax total is really three bills' worth of lines: Fulton County's, Fulton Schools', and the City of Milton's. The county and schools lines, the two biggest for most Milton homeowners, are exactly what Tuesday's order covers, and those interim bills are coming to Milton mailboxes like everyone else's. The city's line is different, and always has been: Milton bills its own city taxes in the fall, and the city told us on the record last week that its normal October schedule holds. The order leaving Milton out is the paperwork version of that same fact.

We asked the city Wednesday whether it requested the carve-out. City Hall told us it was checking as we went to press; when the answer comes, you will read it here.

Source: Final Order, In re: 2026 Tax Digest for Fulton County, case 26CV010167, Fulton County Superior Court, filed Aug. 4. The Roundabout has the signed order.

Crabapple Corner

The Design Review Board approved the architecture for the Urbandale Townhomes on Tuesday night, unanimously, and with that the last design question about the project is settled.

Fifteen units on about seven acres at 12475 and 12505 Broadwell Road, next to Crabapple Crossing. Three rows of townhomes, six units then four then five, set behind homes that front the road. This was the third time the project has been in front of this board: demolition cleared last August, site and landscape work in October. What was left was what the buildings would actually look like, and that turned out to be a detailed question. June's courtesy review sent the applicant home with six notes, down to the paint around specific gable windows and the style of the front doors.

The applicant came back Tuesday and the board approved it without a dissenting vote. City staff had recommended approval, writing that the buildings satisfy the architectural standards of the Crabapple Form-Based Code, the rulebook written specifically to govern how this part of Milton looks as it fills in. Cementitious siding, board and batten, brick at the base, standing seam metal over the porches. If that sounds like a description of most of new Crabapple, that is the code working as intended.

Before the vote the board asked whether anyone wanted to speak about it. Nobody did. Which is worth sitting with, because Tuesday was the last design decision this project needed. What was left was paint colors and door styles, and the board spent two meetings on those.

Next stop is a building permit.

Source: Aug. 4 Design Review Board agenda packet and staff report; The Roundabout viewed the meeting.

Council Watch

Council got its third look at the draft FY27 budget Monday night, with Deputy City Manager Bernadette Harvill warning that three moving pieces could reshape city finances: the millage rate (still tied to Fulton's unfinalized tax digest), November's TSPLOST referendum, and a pending employee salary market study. Harvill's presentation showed Milton continues to run among the lowest per capita spending in North Fulton. Final adoption is expected in September; the full presentation is here.

The Consent Agenda passed unanimously, including agreements with ABFortner for a South Deerfield urban design master plan and Prime Contractors for structural work on the McConnell-Chadwick House (the city accepted a $5,000 grant to offset costs). Kathy Gilker joined the Milton Equestrian Committee after a nomination from Councilmember Phil Cranmer, who cited her 50 years of horse experience.

Council also voted unanimously to transmit the 2026 comprehensive plan update to the state for review, despite resident Christy Hayes flagging typographical errors and inconsistencies in the document during public comment. State law requires adoption by end of October.

Source: Council, citizens hear 3rd presentation on draft FY27 budget · Milton council OKs transmittal of 2026 comprehensive plan

The Drive

Crews start work today on the Hopewell and Thompson roundabout, by Bloom and Bell Memorial Park: reworked splitter islands, a modified truck apron, fresh striping, signage, and reflective markers. The city says the work should last only a few days, with flaggers directing traffic while it does, so give that corner a little patience through the weekend.

The changes come from crash patterns tracked since the roundabout opened in 2021. The city will collect data this fall to see which measures work; the ones that do could spread to other roundabouts around Milton. Hopewell at Bethany Bend is next in line.

Source: City of Milton

School Beat

Milton football unofficially opens tonight, and not quietly: the Eagles host Grayson, one of the top-three teams in the state, in a preseason scrimmage at 7 PM at Milton High School. Both programs finished in Georgia's top ten last season. Grayson arrives with a new head coach and a Nebraska-committed offensive lineman; Milton answers with senior quarterback Derrick Baker, a Tennessee commit who threw 36 touchdowns against two interceptions across the Overtime OT7 Finals weekend, per Rivals. The real season starts at the end of the month; consider tonight the trailer. It streams on the NFHS Network if you cannot be there.

Source: Rivals preseason coverage; 2025 records and rankings per the Rivals composite.

The Roundtable

Last week we asked what you would change about Milton if a magic wand came with the newsletter. Twelve of you answered, and seven said: nothing. Do not tell anyone about this place. Three voted for more trails and green space, one for shorter commutes, one for more places to eat.

We are printing twelve answers as twelve answers, not as percentages, because twelve people are twelve people. But seven of twelve choosing "leave it alone" is its own kind of civic data.

Best of Milton 2026

One of these is tied

Voting closes Monday night, and the races are closer than we expected. Twenty-nine categories, 2,500 votes so far, and one category is a dead tie: Best Pet Groomer, where Dog Wash Cafe and Woof Gang Bakery & Grooming are level at nineteen votes each. Five more categories are inside three votes. Eight are inside five. In a good chunk of these, the thing standing between two businesses is a handful of neighbors who have not voted yet.

You get one vote per category and you do not have to fill in all of them. Vote in the two or three you actually have an opinion about and leave the rest to people who do. Winners land here Sunday the 16th.

Cast your ballot →  ·  See every finalist

Calendar

• →Monday, Aug 10 City Council work session, City Hall, 6 PM
• →Monday, Aug 17 City Council regular meeting, City Hall, 6 PM
• →Monday, Sep 14 City Council work session, City Hall, 6 PM
• →Monday, Sep 21 City Council regular meeting, City Hall, 6 PM
• →Saturday, Oct 3 Crabapple Fest, Crabapple Market's Green, 10 AM. Kids Market registration is open now

Milton Weekend

• →Fri, Aug 7 · 6:00 PM: Live Music at Six Bridges · Six Bridges Crabapple (free)
• →Fri, Aug 7 · 6:00 PM: All-Nashville Roadshow at Hyde Brewing · Hyde Brewing (free)
• →Mon, Aug 10: Best of Milton 2026: last day to vote · Online at readroundabout.com (free)
• →Tue, Aug 11 · 6:30 PM: Trivia Night at Six Bridges · Six Bridges Crabapple (free)

See the full Milton calendar → · Got an event? Submit it

Milton Homes

Touring this weekend? Every active Milton listing is on our directory, sorted by school zone, neighborhood, or price, and updated nightly.

One More Thing

Build robots. Train an AI. Make really cool stuff. Starting next Wednesday, kids 6 to 14 can do all three a block from City Hall: The Coder School runs weekly hands-on coding classes at Community Place, Wednesdays 4:15 to 5:15 PM through October 7. There is a class for the 3-to-5 crowd starting later in August too.

Spots go through miltonga.gov/Registration, under the Youth Programs tab.

Source: City of Milton