Members of the Georgia House of Representative, led in part by Oconee County Rep. Houston Gaines, are working hard to make life difficult for members of governmental bodies that voted to opt out of the state’s new floating homestead exemption.
In Oconee County, those are the members of the Oconee County Board of Education, who voted 4 to 1 on Feb. 3 to approve a resolution not to participate in the inflation-adjusted homestead exemption.
The Georgia House has passed, in a 173 to 1 vote, House Bill 92, which will require, if passed by the Senate in its present form, the Oconee County Board of Education to vote again next year and every year thereafter to opt out of the floating homestead exemption.
House Bill 370, written by Gaines, and passed 97 to 77, will require school districts that opt out of the floating homestead exemption to state “the total amount of the school district’s reserve funds per enrolled student” on the ad valorem property tax bill each year.
In addition, school districts and other governing bodies that opt out will have to state on the tax bill the name of the district or authority that opted out with instructions to homeowners to call the listed telephone number of the authority “if they have concerns” about the authority’s decision to opt out.
Exceptions are made if the district has in place two other types of homestead exemptions, neither of which Oconee County has.
Gaines Newsletter
In a newsletter Gaines sent out on March 15, he provided a legislative update, and singled out House Bill 370.
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| Gaines Official Photo |
“I also sponsored HB 370 that would mandate local governments that opted out of the statewide homestead tax relief that passed last year place a notice on taxpayers' tax bill that the local government chose to reject homeowner tax relief,” he wrote.
“It is an important taxpayer transparency bill--and it's my hope that it will encourage some local governments to opt back in (it was my desire that there was never an option to opt out),” he wrote.
Gaines, who represents House District 120, is joined by Marcus Wiedower, House District 121, as sponsors of HB 370. Both are Republicans, as are all five members of the Oconee County Board of Education.
Gaines represents parts of Barrow, Clarke, Jackson, and Oconee County’s Northeast Precinct (formerly Bogart and Marswood Hall), while Wiedower represents parts of Clarke County and the remainder of Oconee County.
Both Gaines and Wiedower voted in the group of 171 legislators that approved House Bill 92. Gaines voted for his House Bill 370, but Wiedower is listed as Not Voting.
Floating Homestead Exemption
The Georgia General Assembly overwhelmingly passed two pieces of legislation in its session a year ago in response to citizen complaints about the impact of increased property assessments on local property taxes.
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| Wiedower Official Photo |
The first piece of legislation put on the ballot across the state a Constitutional Amendment allowing the legislature to create a “state wide homestead exemption that serves to limit increases in the assessed value of homesteads.”
The amendment stated that counties, unified governments, municipalities, and school boards can opt out “upon the completion of certain procedures.”
Across the state, 62.9 percent of the voters approved the amendment. In Oconee County, the percentage of voters approving was 64.3 percent.
The General Assembly in March also passed House Bill 581 setting up the actual exemption, on the condition voters approved the Constitutional Amendment.
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. The exemption is not fixed, but "floats" based on the calculation of inflation.
The law required school boards and other governing authorities wishing to opt out of the exemption to state that intent and then hold three public hearings before making a final decision.
After holding those three hearings, the Oconee County Board of Education voted on Feb. 3, with only Board Member Adam Hammond objecting, to opt out of the exemption. The deadline for action was March 1.
The Oconee County Board of Commissioners and the mayors and councils of the county’s four cities did not opt out of the exemption.
What HB 92 And HB 370 Would Do
House Bill 92 states that “For the election to opt out of the homestead exemption otherwise granted by this Code section to remain effective for a political subdivision after tax year 2025, the governing authority shall comply with the same procedures and hearings required pursuant to paragraph (1) of this subsection and shall file a copy of the resolution with the Secretary of State by March 1 of each year.”
It also states that “The governing authority of any county, consolidated government, municipality, or school district that has elected to opt out pursuant to this subsection may rescind such election at any time by adopting a resolution to do so and filing a copy of such resolution with the Secretary of State Office.”
House Bill 370 requires the school district to include a per student notice of reserve founds on the tax bill and the contact information of the authority that voted to opt out unless one of two types of homestead exemptions is in place.
The first is what is called a “base year value or adjusted base year value homestead exemption for all residents.” This exemption sets a base year of assessment for taxation that remains in place, with some fixed increase, until the property is sold or improved.
The second is an exemption of full assessed value for seniors, meaning they do not pay property tax.
The final approved budget for Oconee County Schools for the Fiscal Year ending on June 30 of this year listed an estimated Total Fund Balance as of June 30, 2024, of $40 million and a student enrollment of 8,451, or $4,733 per student.
December Meetings
In the past, two members of the Oconee County Board of Education, or one less than the quorum required for an open meeting, met privately with the county’s legislative delegation in December, before the January opening of the legislative session.
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| Ransom 9/21/2024 |
According to Steven Colquitt, Director of Communications for Oconee County Schools, writing in an email on Dec. 17 of last year, “There has not been meeting of the Board of Education members and the county's legislative delegation, nor is one currently scheduled.”
At its Dec. 9 meeting, the Board of Education received a briefing from Oconee County Schools Chief Financial Officer Peter Adams on House Bill 581 and the floating homestead exemption.
“There is an opt out provision,” Adams told the Board several times. “You have one chance to opt out to maintain local control.”
That issue of control–the Board making decisions on property taxes rather than allowing legislators in Atlanta to make those decisions–was central to subsequent presentations Adams gave the Board after the first of the year.
The Board never met again in December or voted publicly to state its intent to opt out of the floating homestead exemption.
Current Board Chair Michael Ransom said after receiving a briefing on HB 581 in December, following that Dec. 9 meeting, he made that decision, in consultation with Board Members Amy Parrish and Ryan Hammock. That statement of an intent to opt out was announced on Jan. 2.
The Georgia Secretary of State Office, which was to receive by March 1 the resolutions opting out of the floating homestead exemption from governments in the state, has not responded to repeated requests for a list of those governments.
1 comment:
This was a fiasco of a bill. Poorly written with a loop hole that the public did not understand. When the BOE opted out…the big question was why did we even bother to vote? Now Gaines is scrambling to right the poorly written bill that he co sponsored. Maybe to his credit he is trying to right a wrong. Maybe he listened to his constituents.
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