Officials continue homestead exemption debate in the CSRA
EVANS, Ga. (WRDW/WAGT) - CSRA officials are still considering whether to opt in or out of the controversial homestead exemption in Georgia and it’s a chance for you to weigh in this week.
On Tuesday, the city of Grovetown will meet in the council chambers at 2 p.m.
The Richmond County School system will meet at 3:30 p.m. in the central office board room.
The Augusta Commission will meet at 6 p.m. at the Warren Road Community Center.
And the city of Harlem will meet at 6:30 p.m. in Harlem’s Public Safety building.
The City of Sardis intends to opt out of the statewide adjusted base year ad valorem homestead exemption for the City of Sardis.
All concerned citizens are invited to the public hearing on this matter to be held at Sardis Annex Building at 1209 Ellison Bridge Road.
Dates and times of each meeting are as follows:
- February 13 at 6 p.m.
- February 17 at 5:30 p.m.
- February 18 at 6 p.m.
HOW WE GOT HERE
House Bill 581: What prompted the referendum?
- The measure came after lawmakers fielded complaints about rising property tax bills. From 2018 to 2023, the total assessed value of property across Georgia rose by nearly 61%, according to figures from the Georgia Department of Revenue. Most governments pocketed increased revenues even as they lowered tax rates, boosting employee pay and other spending. Statewide property tax collections rose 44% from 2018 to 2023.
Last week, the Columbia County Board of Commissioners had a hearing at 6 p.m. in the Evans Government Center Auditorium.
More than 60% of voters in November said yes to the homestead exemption question on the ballot, which could put a cap on tax hikes on your home.
“You are going to have a major problem with price increases, residential taxes, non-homestead taxes and business taxes,” says one Columbia County resident. “It all depends if Columbia County wants to have growth.”
The law establishes a floating homestead exemption, which limits the annual increase in property tax assessments on homestead properties to the rate of inflation for the previous year.
However, the law has a way out for local municipalities.
What does homestead exemption law mean for you?
With the new year comes new laws and one such law in Georgia has to do with protecting homeowners from big spikes in property tax values.
Counties can announce their plans to opt-out, which then triggers the need for at least three public hearings.
After those hearings, governments and school districts will vote on whether to opt in or out.
The commissioners and board in Columbia County that we’ve spoken to say legally, they have to use that language in order to hold the public hearings.
Instead, they say they are using these meetings to figure out if they will opt out.
CSRA’s smaller counties facing challenges with homestead exemptions
The clock is ticking for local governments to make a decision on the Homestead Exemption Act. We took a deeper look into the challenges smaller counties like Jefferson County face.
Leaders tell us the turnout remains strong during each meeting and that’s what they want. Every piece of community input plays a part in the overall decision.
It’s all about House Bill 581.
“It’s a very complex bill,” said Scott Johnson, county manager for Columbia County. “It’s not just as easy as saying we’re going to give everybody a tax break.”
Leaders like Johnson say it’s not as easy as 1-2-3.
“In a lot of instances, House Bill 581 does not give a tax break,” said Johnson. “So capping the assessments does not in itself create a tax break.”
“The floating local option sales tax would replace the lost revenue,” said Johnson. “House Bill 581 puts a cap on homesteaded properties and as a result of that cap, there’s going to be some missing revenue. But that will be made up for in the floating local option sales tax, should we get that in place.”
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But there’s only one way the sales tax can be an option for voters in November.
“Everybody has to opt in,” said Johnson. “If anybody opts out, not counting the school board, the school board’s completely independent, they don’t get the sales tax. But to get the sales tax, the county, and in our case, the counties Harlem and Grovetown would all have to opt in for us to even be able to ask the citizens for the sales tax. Any entity opts out, all are out.”
That’s where leaders are hitting another roadblock.
“The problem that we’re running into is for Columbia County, we have to decide by March 1, whether we’re going to opt in or opt out. Grovetown and Harlem have to decide by March 1, whether they’re going to opt in or opt out,” said Johnson. “Then we will not know if we get the sales tax in place until November, so that creates a divide there, not understanding if we’re going to be able to replace that revenue.”
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