Columbia County school board opts out of cap on property tax hikes
EVANS, Ga. (WRDW/WAGT) - The Columbia County Board of Education voted 3-2 in favor of opting out of the Homestead Exemption Act on Tuesday.
More than 60% of voters in the state in November said yes at the polls to opt into the homestead exemption.
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But the bill allows local governments, cities and school boards to opt out.
This is why the board of education told us last month, that they were weighing all options.
“We get about 60% of our revenue from the state of Georgia and then we get the other 40% from local taxes, mainly our millage rate,” said Steven Flynt, Columbia County superintendent. “And so that 40% is really what we’re talking about with this.”
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At the first of three hearings on the matter, the chief financial officer for the school district told us if Columbia County did not not opt-out, they’d have to get the money some other way – like being forced to raise the millage rate, furlough or lay off teachers, or increase class sizes.
“It has a large impact on the school district, so we just want to make sure that everybody understands what that impact could be because this bill is going to be in place for 50 years, which is quite a long time,” said Flynn.
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