Public weighs in on plans to opt out of property tax cap
AUGUSTA, Ga. (WRDW/WAGT) - Richmond County school leaders on Tuesday started holding hearings on their plans to opt out of the statewide cap on property tax hikes. Meanwhile, Columbia County commissioners announced their intention to follow that path, too.
The Richmond County School System held a hearing Tuesday to let the public weigh in.
How would the cap affect property owners?
" I think it’d be difficult to determine long term how many people will necessarily benefit,” Richmond County Chief Appraiser Scott Rountree said. “But I think it is, it is definitely geared toward property owners who own and live in their properties for a long time.”
Explaining the floating homestead exemption for property taxes
This is a pretty complicated subject that really varies county by county because property values vary depending on where you live.
Before opting out of the so-called “floating” rate, the Richmond County Board of Education had to schedule a series of public hearings, and Tuesday’s was the first.
The other hearings are planned at 3:30 p.m. Jan. 22 and 6 p.m. Jan. 27, followed by a vote of the school board on the matter at 6:30 p.m. Jan. 27.
“Really the only properties that would benefit are, one, if you have a homestead, and your property value over time continues to appreciate at a rate higher than whatever the cap is, you’ll see a long-term benefit to this,” says Rountree. “That’s a question that the commission has to ask is do we think this benefit is great enough to shift that burden or not?”
Meanwhile, the Columbia County Board of Commissioners said Tuesday it intends to opt out of the statewide adjusted base year ad valorem homestead exemption for Columbia County.
Tuesday’s announcement came after officials said last week they were exploring their options.
All concerned citizens are invited to the first of three public hearings on this matter to be held at the Evans Government Center auditorium, located at 630 Ronald Reagan Drive, Building A, on:
- Jan. 21 at 6 p.m.
- Jan. 28 at 10 a.m.
- Feb. 4 at 6 p.m.
“It’s gonna put a squeeze on,” says Jerry Street, an Augusta resident. “And I think I’m probably fortunate, but there’s other people who it’s gonna be hurting even worse.”
How Hurricane Helene could actually help with your taxes
Columbia County officials urges property owners impacted by Hurricane Helene to report any damage to their homes as assessments continue throughout the county, on Tuesday.
The Columbia County Board of Commissioners is having the required public hearings to gather citizen input.
This means local governments have a chance to opt out of the new Georgia law that puts a cap on tax increases on your home.
“The way this works is it’s an additional exemption, not in lieu of your current one, but in addition to your current exemption,” says Rountree. “So, for example, if your property increased 10% due to inflation, but the cap was 5%, you would be taxed at basically 5% above what your prior year value was. And anything beyond that, that additional 5% would be exempted.”
House Bill 581 is meant to change how local governments look at property taxes with your homestead exemption.
Augusta leaders weigh the will of voters on tax exemption
Augusta commissioners on Monday spent a lot of their meeting discussing the law allowing the city to opt out of a “floating” homestead exemption for property taxes.
Lawmakers drafted this with the purpose of putting a cap on how much property taxes could rise each year to prevent tax spikes.
It’s a new system meant to ease the burden on people with fixed incomes or salaries that can’t keep up with growing market values.
“You only get so many bites at the apple to control taxes, and we want to get it right,” Doug Duncan, chairman of Columbia County Commission, said last week as officials examined whether to opt out.
All local governments and school boards have until March 1 to decide what they will do and if they opt out, it will go to the state for approval.
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