Sunday, February 02, 2025

Four Citizens Speak At Second Oconee School Board Hearing On Stated Intent To Opt Out Of Statewide Floating Homestead Exemption

***School Administration Makes Case For Opting Out***

Four citizens spoke at the second public hearing on Tuesday (Jan. 28) on the Oconee County School Board’s announced intent to opt out of the statewide floating homestead exemption, all telling the Board they want the exemption.

Two of the citizens emphasized that the clear majority of Oconee County voters (64.3 percent) had approved a Constitutional Amendment in the Nov. 5 election allowing for the new homestead exemption.

Two explicitly challenged the arguments made by the staff of school Superintendent Jason Branch in favor of opting out of the new exemption, which 62.9 percent of the voters across the state approved.

State legislators, responding to homeowners complaints about increased property assessments and their impact on property taxes, approved House Bill 581 in March implementing the floating exemption on the condition voters approved the Constitutional Amendment in November.

Under House Bill 581, the taxable part of increased assessments of homesteaded property that has not been improved will be limited by the inflation rate, with any increase in assessment beyond the inflation rate exempted from taxation.

Taxing authorities that wish to opt out of the exemption have until March 1 to do so, but the authority must hold three hearings before making that decision.

The third and final hearing of the Oconee County Board of Education will be at 4 p.m. on Monday (Feb. 3), at the Instructional Support Center, 71 North Main Street, Watkinsville, where the meeting on Tuesday was held.

The Board has scheduled a vote on the decision to opt out for the work session of the Board, which begins at 6 p.m. on Monday (Feb. 3), also at the Instructional Support Center.

School Administration Argument

Oconee County Schools Chief Financial Officer Peter Adams used 13 minutes at the front of the meeting on Monday to make the case for the Board to vote to opt out of the floating homestead exemption.

Adams (Back To Camera) And Board 1/28/2025

“I want to remind everybody that the purpose of the hearing is to provide information on HB 581 to the Board and the community and to listen to any thoughts from Oconee County residents,” he said.

“What opting out means: local control customized for our community,” Adams continued.

“What opting in means: state control, one size fits all,” he said.

Adams said that his analysis shows that local revenue collected by the Board for Oconee County Schools “could have decreased by $13.9 million over the last seven years” if the floating exemption had been in place.

The changes in HB 581 could significantly impact tax revenue from county schools,” he said. “The change could impact flexibility to meet local needs and maintain competitive salaries and benefits.”

“With the inflationary rate capped by HB 581,” he continued, “OCS would have to increase the millage rate to maintain the level of service we offer to Oconee County students.”

“Oconee County schools has only one chance to opt out,” Adams said, “And the process must be completed by March 1, 2025. There's not another chance to opt out even if the legislation causes significant issues to Oconee County Schools funding and cash flows.”

Board Questions And Comments

In response to a question from Board Chair Michael Ransom, Adams repeated his statement that the decision to opt out of the floating exemption would not have any impact on the new local homestead exemptions approved by Oconee County voters in May of last year.

Board Member Ryan Hammock asked about impact of the floating homestead exemption on funding to the county through the Quality Basic Education (QBE) formula, as he had at the first public hearing on Jan. 23.

School districts are required to levy five mills in property taxes as what is called a Local Fair Share, or contribution to the QBE funding. That Local Fair Share is deducted from the total QBE earnings, with the state sending to the local district the balance.

Adams told Hammock that calculation of the Local Fair Share that Oconee County Schools must contribute to the QBE funding would be based on the tax digest before the homestead exemptions are calculated.

“So that means those first five mills will become more valuable than any mill after those first five mills,” Hammock said.

Board Member Adam Hammond said “my understanding of the bill is that you shift the burden of responsibility from homeowner to businesses.”

“So what I'm hearing is we're not necessarily limited as far as our tax digest growth,” he continued. “We maintain the freedom to adjust the millage based on budgetary needs up to 20 mills.”

Adams confirmed that interpretation.

A school district can exceed 20 mills, but only with voter approval.

Comment From First Two Speakers

Ian Taylor, who also spoke at the Jan. 23 hearing, referred to Hammock’s concern about the QBE and said that “it's important to know that the first five mills doesn't leave Oconee County. It just reduces the amount of money that the state provides to make sure it is equitable across all counties. So it's not like we giving away that five mills.”

Taylor 1/28/2025

Adams had emphasized that the millage rate approved by the Board has been decreasing across time, but Taylor said at the same time the size of the tax digest had increased.

“The millage rate to me is a political expediency,” Taylor said. “The millage rate means nothing to me. It's the amount of money that I've got to go with the check at the Courthouse that is important.”

“You have plenty of local control,” he said, saying that the Board still will be able to set the millage rate. “There’s no control that you lose.”

Chuck Hunt, who is chair of the Oconee County Planning Commission, said “It is owner occupied homes with your students in them that will be affected by this stabilization of the tax intake.”

Hunt 1/28/2025

“And it's you guys trying to say that you know how to spend those few dollars that the homeowner will save for those kids better than the parents do,” he continued.

“That's a bad message,” he said. “I would encourage you not to go there. This is one opportunity that you guys have to show that the homeowners are important.”

Comment From Second Two Speakers

Victoria Cruz said the language of the referendum on the ballot for the Constitutional Amendment was confusing, and “I'm pretty sure most of the citizens didn't know what they were voting for, but they did not vote for you to opt out.”

Cruz 1/28/2025

“They probably didn't even realize that you could opt out,” she said. “They wanted to see some sort of control on their home taxes. And I don't blame them.”

“Your tax base grew tremendously over the last few years,” she continued. “You benefitted from the inflation we've had the last four years.”

“So the problem is you're going to opt out of saving people money,” Cruz said. “You're going to try to keep your revenues as high as possible and you're not going to give the citizens any input on how you spend that money.”

“The citizens of this county have spoken with a 64 percent majority on House Bill 581,” Roy Baerne said. “And you should accept the will of the people.”

Baerne 1/28/2025

Baerne also spoke at the first hearing, and he said he would be back to speak at the final one.

“I think it's time for seniors to be exempt from school taxes,” he said. “I have been paying school taxes for 57 years. My wife and I, we don't even have a kid in school. We don't have a grandkid in school or great grandkids in any school system.”

“Most of us seniors are on fixed income,” he said. “We get a little 2.59 percent increase in cost of living for our Social Security that does not come close to the expenses that we have.”

“I recommend you ask the Board and superintendent, maybe you need to tighten purse strings and follow the voters' wishes,” Baerne said.

Hammond Responded

Hammond thanked the citizen for their comments when the four had finished speaking and thanked Adams “for breaking down a complex issue for us so that we can make a decision about this.”

Hammond 1/28/2025

“At the end of the day, as a Board member, we have to make a decision that is best for students in the schools and best for everybody associated with our school community,” Hammond said.

“The cornerstone of my decision when it comes to voting for this will be the vote,” he said. “As you all said, we can't deny the fact that the overwhelming portion of the public voted to be in this homestead exemption tax.”

“And I think that's something that I'm going to keep in mind as we treat this hearing process with an open mind,” he added.

Video

The video below was recorded by Harold Thompson, as a favor for me. I attended the Board of Commissioners meeting at that same time.

Per the restrictions of Oconee County Schools Communications Director Steven Colquitt, Thompson recorded from the rear of the room.

Adams began his comment at the beginning of the meeting, and the four citizens who signed up in advance were invited to speak, each for no more than three minutes, at 13:13 in the video.

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