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Following its regularly scheduled business meeting, the Troup County School Board held a public hearing to discuss House Bill 581.

HB581 is a statewide floating homestead exemption that was passed by the Georgia legislature and voted on by Georgians as an amendment on Nov. 5.  In Troup County, 63 percent voted for the homestead exemption. The exemption would cap annual increases in property values for tax purposes and impact property taxes for cities, counties, and school districts. 

This allows property values to increase each year, but the increase is capped to the rate of inflation index. Superintendent Rachel Hazel said that the inflation index that will be used to determine this cap has yet to be determined by the State Tax Commissioner. 

This means the assessed values of homes will not increase drastically due to market fluctuations. And, if values don’t increase drastically the property tax does not increase drastically. 

There was a short presentation made before the public hearing by Hazel discussing the bill and its consideration. TCSB has expressed its intent to opt out of the exemption through a press release, which ran in LaGrange Daily News on Jan. 11.

If a county, city, or school district opts into the exemption, they can not opt out in future years. 

“It maintains our ability to respond to local needs and crises,”  Hazel said. “If there is an event that impacts us financially in the future, this would maintain our ability to adjust to that, and it still maintains the local ability to respond to rising property values, including tax decreases.”

If a homeowner applies for a more favorable homestead exemption, they will receive the higher exemption as long as they reside at the homesteaded property. 

“A lot of confusion has to do with senior tax relief. This is not senior tax relief. It does not impact senior tax relief. Our board passed a resolution to increase senior tax relief in December…that has been sent forward for approval by the legislature,” Hazel added that the exemption is for homesteads exclusively, not rental properties.

Members of the public in attendance were able to address the board. 

“Without the exemptions being percentage amounts, there’s no room for inflation,” said Tony Methany in support of opting in. “Exemptions in general, if they have income limits and they’re expressed in dollar amounts they don’t take into account inflation.”

Methany read an excerpt from the TCSS press release on HB581 which stated, “While the legislation would likely reduce the tax burden on many homeowners on the surface, it could lead to an increase in the millage rate to offset the revenue difference, which would shift the tax burden to businesses and income-producing rental properties.”

He continued, “I think it’s kind of unfair, personally, for the board to be worried about shifting through millage rates, some of the burden to these business and income-producing rent properties…we give a lot of exemptions, a lot of abatements, but in the end, a homestead owner in the county really receives no tangible benefit from that.”

The other member of the public to speak was Dr. Richard Luke, who said, “We’ve got 65 percent [of the county who voted for HB581]. Is there a way we can make this work?”

Board members had a chance to voice their concerns about HB581 following the public. Two of the three new board members, Tuesday was their first board meeting, spoke in favor of opting out. Dan McAlexander and Tripp Foster responded to the concerns brought up by Methany. 

“My concern is first and foremost, the local control issue,” McAlexander said. “If we are being asked my, two colleagues and I, in the first three months of our time here, to explore and decide whether or not we are going to handcuff future boards in perpetuity to a state-mandated decision that we is as yet undefined and unknown…Though, we are voted into office by all of the people in our district. Our constituents are the students who can’t vote, and if we are really trying to serve them. We have to think carefully about the actions we take today that may, in the future, really harm the students.”

McAlexander also spoke on Methany’s concern about “shifting the burden.”

“Major funds coming from those abatements, that are beginning to wear out from those companies, have been extremely productive in helping us meet our budget,” he said. 

Rev. Allen Simpson and fellow board member Anne O’Brien said they were concerned about being locked into the exemption were the system to opt in. 

“I was a principal in the school system for many, many years,” O’Brien said, and I was here when we had the austerity cut, and it was really tough. Teachers were laid off, schools were closed.

She added that if TCSS were to opt in, “We’ll always be under the state’s control of how much tax relief and how much school system gets or doesn’t get…if times were hard and we didn’t get any money that we needed to keep our budget in the black, we would have to raise the millage rate.”

Several board members argued that were they to raise the millage rate to balance the budget, the burden would not only be on businesses.

“If businesses start to get the hit of the tax burden, they’ll pass it on to the consumer. They won’t keep it themselves,” echoed board member Anne O’Brian. “They’ll pass it on to people who can least afford it.”

Two more public hearings will be held on Feb. 6 at 5:30 p.m. and Feb. 10 at 10 a.m. at the Administrative Services Center located at 100 North Davis Road.