Latest news with #Hufstetler
Associated Press
25-03-2025
- Business
- Associated Press
Georgia lawmakers push local governments to reconsider escaping a property tax cap
ATLANTA (AP) — Georgia's voters said in November that they wanted property tax relief, but many local governments are holding on to their power to raise taxes despite the statewide vote. Now state lawmakers are trying to push local governments to reconsider and agree to limit how much of a home's increasing value can be taxed. From 2018 to 2023, the total assessed value of property across Georgia rose by nearly 61%, according to figures from the Georgia Department of Revenue. Values rose so fast that most local governments pocketed increased revenue even as they lowered tax rates, and statewide property tax collections rose 44% from 2018 to 2023. Senate Finance Committee Chairman Chuck Hufstetler, a Rome Republican, calls it a 'backdoor tax increase.' Amid the uproar over tax bills, lawmakers put a state constitutional amendment on the ballot in November to limit how much of a home's rising value can be translated into higher property taxes. State politicians sought instead to index a property's taxable value to the broader rate of inflation each year. Nearly 63% of Georgia voters backed the cap, making the state one of eight where voters decided property tax measures in November, a sign of how rising tax bills are influencing politics nationwide. But Georgia's plan gave local governments a one-time chance to escape the limit if they acted by March 1, and they exercised that right in droves. Almost two-thirds of the state's 180 school districts opted out, representing 75% of Georgia's 1.75 million students statewide, according to filings with the secretary of state. So did a quarter of Georgia's 159 counties and 20% of its more than 500 cities. Citing their own rising expenses, local officials said the tax cap could force them to give up revenue they might need in the future. Officials in Gwinnett County — Georgia's largest school district, with 183,000 students — forecast that the cap could cut tax revenue by $35 million a year. Hufstetler and other Republicans, unhappy that so many governments opted out, want them to change their minds. Some lawmakers are trying to force local governments in their districts to accept the cap. At least a dozen bills are advancing in the state Capitol to set local referendums in which voters could mandate that their local government abide by the cap. On Tuesday, senators attempted something more like persuasion. Senators voted 52-2 for House Bill 92, which would give governments another chance to agree to the limits. The measure goes back to the House for more debate. Local governments that have exited could change their minds and agree to the tax cap through March 1, 2029. In the meantime, those governments would have to print notices on tax bills encouraging citizens to call them if they have concerns. As a concession, the bill would exempt school districts from having to pay sales taxes on construction materials if they agree to the cap. 'It does continue to allow opportunities for them to look back, particularly in a couple of years from now, when they could look back and see how minimal it is,' Hufstetler said after the vote. 'Yet it protects the homeowners.' The bill passed Tuesday would force some local governments to vote again in 2027 to exit the cap, and hold another round of public meetings. Any government that didn't complete the steps would be put under the cap permanently.
Yahoo
31-01-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Georgia lawmakers introduce legislation to remove data center power costs from residential bills
A group of state lawmakers introduced new legislation to ensure Georgia Power residential customers aren't on the hook for the cost of data center operations. Senate Bill 34 would change Georgia law related to the Public Service Commission, which regulates utilities, to keep commercial data center costs from being passed on to consumers when it comes to rates, charges or cost recoveries. The bill was filed by State Sen. Chuck Hufstetler and is sponsored by 18 others in a bipartisan push to protect Georgia consumers from rate hikes related to data centers. [DOWNLOAD: Free WSB-TV News app for alerts as news breaks] The bill's filing also follows a vote in the PSC on Jan. 23 which made it so data center power rates would be required to have different costs than the rates paid by residential and other commercial customers in the state. The legislative text for the data center bill would update the state's statutes to say 'Notwithstanding the provisions of Code Section 46-3-11, no costs incurred by an electric utility, including, but not limited to, costs associated with increased fuel requirements, generation costs, and transmission costs' related to the electric services to commercial data centers and that would not have been charged if not for those specific customers' demands. Additionally, the proposal adds provisions to block power companies from 'substantially recovering such costs' by charging other customers. TRENDING STORIES: GA school district closing buildings to deep clean after 'excessive' norovirus, flu absences 'I told everyone no:' Former purchasing manager says South Fulton mayor has a problem with spending House of horrors: Girls, 15, being trafficked for sex rescued by Griffin police Similar to the PSC rule from Jan. 23, the bill sets a 'peak demand of 100 megawatts or greater' as the threshold for applicability. For reference, a megawatt is 1,000 kilowatts. The average Georgia household uses about 956 kilowatt hours per month, based on a yearly average of 11,483 kilowatt hours for residents. Similarly, a kilowatt hour is equal to 1,000 watts of power, putting data center use of 100 megawatts an order of magnitude above the average residential consumer. Hufstetler said in a recent statement that he introduced the legislation to make costs go where they're supposed to. 'I have introduced legislation that would remove the costs of construction, distribution and transmission costs from our consumer bills who are currently bearing these costs and place the costs where it should be. Those that are responsible for these costs should be paying it. We have had six rate increases on consumers in the last two years in part to pay costs brought about by others,' Hufstetler said online. 'We now have the fourth highest consumer bills in the country. Our data centers can be good for the state but many of them I talk to agree they should be paying these costs.' As far as what it looks like for power providers in Georgia, a new release from Georgia Power puts the numbers into perspective. 'Over the next six years, Georgia Power projects approximately 8,200 megawatts (MW) of electrical load growth – an increase of more than 2,200 MW by the end of 2030 when compared to projections in the 2023 IRP Update,' the company said Friday. Georgia Power said they'd like to increase their renewable resources over the next 10 years. 'The company's long-term plan highlights the procurement of a total of 4,000 MW of renewable resources by 2035, with at least 1,100 MW of new renewable resources proposed in this IRP,' the company said. 'These new resources would expand the company's renewable resource portfolio to approximately 11,000 MW by 2035.' [SIGN UP: WSB-TV Daily Headlines Newsletter]
