House Bill 581 will take center stage at a rescheduled Monday Augusta Commission committee meeting.
The meeting, set for 1:20 p.m. or after earlier committees finish, features speakers for and against the bill’s tax so-called “floating” tax exemption for homeowners.
The bill, which voters approved in a November referendum, creates a tax exemption that cuts taxes tied to real estate revaluations and limits them, instead, to a rate tied to inflation.
The exemption is automatic, unless local governments “opt out,” and most have announced plans to hold public hearings required to opt out:
- Columbia County to hold three public hearings on homestead exemption
- RCSS to hold public hearings regarding homestead exemption
- School district announces public hearings for tax exemption opt-out
None of the entities has made public arguments about why the opt-out is needed, although it could reduce homeowners’ burden in providing local government revenues.
Lines are being drawn in Augusta, however, by a former mayor and an entity representing metro business interests.
Former Mayor Bob Young, who called opting out “a slap in the face” for area homeowners, has invited others to join him in the chamber when he speaks to commissioners at the committee Monday.
In a fiery “fact sheet,” Young called the decision to opt out voter “nullification” because it runs against the overwhelming majority who supported the exemption, both in Richmond County and statewide.
The exemption freezes the assessment on an owner-occupied home until ownership changes, he said, thereby allowing homeowners to avoid the “artificial” tax increases that come from reassessments.
The exemption “preserves and promotes home ownership, the largest single industry in Richmond County,” Young writes. “The exemption is another incentive for people to invest in Augusta through home ownership.”
The Augusta Metro Chamber of Commerce, which did not oppose the referendum prior to the November vote, is signed up to speak Monday after Young.
A third agenda item is the committee’s vote on how to proceed.
The commission will get started earlier than planned after calling a 10:30 a.m. meeting to discuss a resolution authorizing an increase in the hotel-motel tax.
Commissioners will again consider entering contracts for the new year with waste haulers Georgia Waste Systems and Coastal Waste Recycling after delaying action several times.
The delay has also postponed implementation of one of several proposed rate hikes, and means recycling collection remains on hold.
The city is under month-to-month contracts with the two haulers while commissioners debate requesting more proposals and consider a rate hike.
Floating Homestead Talking Points by Susan McCord on Scribd
