Latest news with #581
Yahoo
26-02-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Savannah-Chatham County School Board votes to opt out of HB 581
SAVANNAH, Ga. (WSAV) — The Savannah Chatham County Public School System (SCCPSS) has voted to opt out of House Bill (HB) 581. The bill, which has been up for debate in multiple nearby counties, allows Georgia public school systems and municipalities to consider a floating homestead exemption for property owners that would have impacts on tax revenue. The yea votes included school board members Denise Grabowski, Dionne Hoskins-Brown, Cornelia Hall, Paul Smith and Tonia Howard-Hall. The no votes included Shawn Kachmar, Roger Moss and Stephanie Campbell. David Bringman was not in attendance for the vote. The main reason for the school district's decision to opt out of HB 581, as articulated by School officials say that the 'pros for opting in are not the same in Chatham County as most other counties,' due in large part to the existing Stephens-Day Exemption. The Chatham County Board of Assessors describes Stephens-Day as 'A homestead exemption that is equal to the difference between the current year fair market value and the adjusted base year value (property's value in the year prior to the homestead application plus any improvements since the year of the application).' Stephens-Day has been in place for nearly three decades. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
14-02-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Bryan County state legislators introducing bill to lock in homestead exemption
BRYAN COUNTY, Ga. (WSAV) – State House Representatives for Bryan County plan to introduce a local bill on Tuesday that would target the Bryan County School Board's decision to opt out of the homestead tax exemption. If passed and voted in, House Bill 362 would nullify the school board's plan to opt out, a decision many Bryan County residents have hit out against because it could potentially lead to higher taxes that go toward county schools. 'It is 581, but it's a local bill. So, if you opt out, the people will have another bite at the apple,' State Rep. Ron Stephens (GA-164). 'We've gotten a lot of calls from people who are looking for predictability on their property taxes, and this will give it to them.' H.B. 581 was the original legislation that allowed for the homestead exemption, which is essentially a cap on property taxes. Bryan County itself and several cities within the county have all decided to opt in. However, the school board has made it clear they intend to opt out, citing budget concerns for a growing school district. 'All the revenue comes back, plus a cost of living. So, there's no loss of revenue at all,' Stephens said. According to Rep. Stephens, 66% of taxes in Bryan County go towards the school system. Stephens, Rep. Jesse Petrea (GA-166), Rep. Lehman Franklin (GA-160) and Sen. Ben Watson (GA-01) are working to push the legislation through the state house and senate within the coming days. If the measure does pass, Bryan County residents will vote on it in November. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
06-02-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Bryan Co. residents spars with school board over tax exemption
BRYAN COUNTY, Ga. (WSAV) – The Bryan County School Board is at odds with a group of residents about whether to opt into a new tax exemption that could have a significant impact on their wallets. The people of Georgia voted in favor of the homestead tax exemption, or House Bill 581, last November. The exemption now applies to any municipalities that opt in. However, the Bryan County School District said they intend to opt out, which would mean increased tax revenue that would go toward county schools. About a dozen people gathered on the side of Ford Ave Wednesday evening holding signs with slogans like 'save our homes.' 'We started organizing a collective of us. Right now, we're about 300 members where we're trying to inform the community about HB 581 is to save our homes, put out that information to our neighbors and local community and then have our voice heard,' Grant, a Bryan County resident, said. H.B. 581 is a cap on property taxes that locks in assessed value for homeowners if their local government opts in. 'Even though we already voted in the November election, part of the law allows the seven members of the board of education to opt out of that law,' Grant said. Bryan County Schools said that they do intend to opt out. Though, according to a representative for Bryan County, close to 70% of Bryan County voters cast their ballot in favor of the tax exemption. 'The county and the city both are opting in. The school board is the only government entity in Bryan County that is wanting to opt out,' Stephanie Falls, a Bryan County resident, said. Residents said they're most worried about young families who want to buy their first homes or older people on fixed incomes being priced out. 'Of course we want a well-educated community. We would just like to see a better, more fiscally responsible budget,' Falls said. The Bryan County Board of Education (BOE) is hosting a public forum tomorrow night at 6:30 p.m. at the Bryan County BOE Central Office about the tax exemption. News 3 reached out to the board for further comment but have not heard back. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
30-01-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Columbus City Council discusses House Bill 581
COLUMBUS, Ga. (WRBL) — In Georgia, House Bill 581 passed overwhelmingly last year. This created a statewide floating homestead exemption. For the city of Columbus, this new exemption poses some uncertainty as the city already has a tax freeze on residential property taxes. House bill 581 allows counties, consolidated governments, municipalities, and local school districts to opt- in or out based on what they believe is best for their communities. The Muscogee County School district has already begun holding public meetings to discuss opting out. As for the City, it must hold three public meetings to discuss potentially opting out. On Tuesday, a presentation about House Bill 581 was given by the city's tax assessor Suzanne Widenhouse. She explains this bill created a floating homestead that would adjust the base year value by an inflationary index, both up or down. Columbus has a property tax freeze, which means the taxpayer would receive whichever is most beneficial. Widenhouse says this can be very complex. 'Particularly when you consider the fact that our homestead tops out at two acres and these is no acreage limit on this particular homestead,' Widenhouse explains. 'So, while we have what we call 'H' accounts which are properties that exceed two acres that are homestead, they get the freeze on the two acres and then anything over than is subject to fair market. Under this, they would potentially have the floating homestead for the full acreage.' According to the Columbus Elections and Registrations Office, 61.5% of active voters in Columbus voted for House Bill 581. However, District 2 Councilor Glenn Davis explains why he supports opting out. 'If the economic downturn comes, that means you're going to have a housing crisis and not only that, but this city is also built on pennies. People are not going to be able to spend this much and you're not going to be able to collect sales tax revenue, 'Davis explains. 'You have to have revenue to run the city. In order to do that, the taxpayer or the property owner may get a valuation decrease, but nobody's telling that property owner that you can increase valuations, you can increase the millage to get that revenue, you need to run the city,' Davis says. 'Nobody's telling them you can expand the urban service districts all the way out in Midland. Nobody's telling them the taxes and the other fees that would have to go up to run the operations of this city.' Other cities in Georgia can opt- in as they have access to a local option sales tax that is used to pay operations. However, Columbus does not have that option. ' We don't have access to that because a consolidated governments are only allowed two local option sales taxes and one of ours was a commitment made to the community to have 70% go towards public safety, 30% towards infrastructure. So that's off the table,' explains Columbus Mayor Skip Henderson. Based on opinions from firms in Atlanta and the attorney general's office, Columbus City Attorney Clifton Fay says House Bill 581 does not adversely affect our local constitutional homestead freeze whether the city chooses to opt- in or out. Columbus will begin holding public meetings to discuss opting out the first week of February. Those proposed meeting dates are the following: Monday, February 10th at 9 a.m. Monday, February 10th at 6 p.m. Tuesday, February 11th during a city council meeting at 9 a.m. The decision to opt- out has to be completed by March 1st. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
