Georgia House Bill 581 created an automatic freeze on property values to protect owner-occupied homes from skyrocketing property taxes.
Despite statewide voter approval of the measure in November, several local governments including Augusta-Richmond and two local school systems, are now considering how to “opt out” of the bill’s sweeping provisions.
The “Save Our Homes Act” sets a baseline year for a home’s value and exempts from new taxes any increase in value beyond a state-set rate of inflation. For example, a $300,000 home reassessed at $350,000 but valued at $309,000 after inflation would be exempt from taxes on the additional $41,000.
The exemption only helps owner-occupied homes. In Richmond County, that’s approximately 31,000 homes, according to city data, or 38% of all properties.
The exemption “benefits homeowners, especially those that reside in the community for a long period of time,” Administrator Tameka Allen told commissioners at a recent work session.
The exemption does not apply to the remaining 62% of properties, which include rental homes, vacant land and commercial property. As each year passes, the difference in taxes collected between homesteaded and non-homesteaded properties grows. Similarly, the computed roll-back rate will be higher to generate the same revenue in non-homesteaded areas.
“It’s going to shift a lot of the burden onto all the commercial and small businesses, and I think that’s one of the things that our chamber is concerned about, as well as some of our governing body,” Allen said.
Representatives from the Augusta Metro Chamber of Commerce appeared at the work session but did not make a formal statement.
The Richmond and Columbia county school districts each have announced they’ll hold the three public hearings required to opt out of the program. Governments must decided to opt out by March 1.
At least one commissioner favored opting out, based on “the burden” on the 62% created by an exemption that only helps 31%.
“If I was voting, I’d vote to opt out for sure,” said Commissioner Sean Frantom, whose party term ends before the commission makes a final decision.
House Bill 581 also gives local governments the option to create another sales tax, with voter approval, to use to further offset property taxes on all types of real estate, Allen said.
The law makes other changes, including requiring local boards of assessors revalue every parcel of land in a county at least once every three years, said Chief Appraiser Scott Rountree.
Should Augusta choose to opt out, the city needs to decide by the second week of January to meet the calendar requirements for holding the hearings, said Jim Plunkett, interim city general counsel.
