Breaking down the Homestead Property Value amendment

by Ben Baker

The Wiregrass Farmer

If House Bill 1022 as a Constitutional Amendment passes, it will change property value increases for homesteaded property. This is something many people have wanted for years.

In short, this amendment caps property tax increases on homesteaded property, said Rep. Beth Camp from Concord, Georgia. She sponsored the Amendment.

"We need a YES vote on this for taxpayer relief. Vote yes in early voting beginning in October and Yes on Nov. 5 if you vote on election day," she said.

She said this is a way to give residents more control over their property taxes and property values.

"Millage rates are not being rolled back. There is no transparency and not a lot of voice for property owners. This will give more voice to individuals," she said.

She said this is especially necessary as parts of Georgia are seeing skyrocketing property values.

"The reality is we have so many people, especially seniors, being priced out of their homes. They bought their home 30 years ago for $40,000. Now it is worth $250,000, which is great, but they cannot afford the taxes any more," she said.

A LOT MORE

The Amendment covers a lot more than that. However, that "lot more" is not part of the Amendment. The extra items are things the General Assembly must approve and the governor must sign for them to take effect.

Rep. Camp went over these other items, which are just proposals at this point. The State Legislature could approve them as proposed, modify them in any way or reject them outright.

Also, these extra items are subject to change each year when the General Assembly meets. Every year, lawmakers modify many existing Georgia laws.

EXAMPLE

Rep. Camp gave this example of how the idea can work.

A homestead property has a value of $50,000.

Rep. Camp used the Consumer Price Index as an example of what could be used to set the cap. The Legislature has not decided what the cap is. For this example, the CPI  is 2.4%. 

The CPI is how much the price for a basket of goods, like grocery items, increases over time. 

If the basket costs $10 on Jan. 1, with a 2.4% increase, the same basket costs $10.24 on Dec. 31.

Using a real estate example, a home has a taxable value of $50,000 on Jan. 1, 2024. On Jan. 1, 2025, that home now has a taxable value of $51,200.

If property values across the county rose 5%, homesteaded property values could only go up that 2.4%. On that $50,000 home, a 5% increase is $2,500.

Over the course of years or decades, those increases can really add up, the Rep. said.

Using the CPI is just an example of an inflation index that can be used. Rep. Camp said some other measure can be used. The General Assembly will decide that.

Also, this cap and the percentage apply statewide. If the increase rate is 2.4%, that is the increase for homesteaded property in every county in the state.

A LOT MORE

The Amendment covers a lot more than that. However, that "lot more" is not part of the Amendment. The extra items are things the General Assembly must approve and the governor must sign for them to take effect.

Rep. Camp went over these other items, which are just proposals at this point. The State Legislature could approve them as proposed, modify them in any way or reject them outright.

Also, these extra items are subject to change each year when the General Assembly meets. Every year the lawmakers modify many existing Georgia laws.

OPT OUT

The Amendment covers every County Commission, City Council, School Board and the few consolidated governments in Georgia. If any of these boards do not want to participate, they have to opt out.

Opting out requires 3 public hearings.

It is also an all-or-nothing venture. If the county commission, a city or school system opts out, the entire property tax-limiting program goes away for the entire county, cities and school systems in that county.

"If anyone opts out, the penny is off the table in that county," she said. "Opting out will be politically pretty hard to come back from."

FLOST

Since local governments can expect to lose some tax revenue from this, Rep. Camp's idea also calls for a Floating Local Option Sales Tax.

"This will help them recoup some of the loss," she said.

*IMPORTANT*IMPORTANT*IMPORTANT*

EDITORS - REVISE THIS PARAGRAPH TO FIT YOUR COUNTY'S TAX RATE

In Turner County, the FLOST would put the Sales Tax rate a 9%. In Turner County, more than half the collected sales tax comes from people passing through. Turner County regularly collects more than $80,000 on each of the 1 cent sales taxes. Months with collections over $100,000 are not common but not rare either. Wilcox County just to the east averages less than half that.

Only time will tell if the FLOST is enough to cover any perceived property tax losses.

If the Amendment passes, FLOST is automatically included. Voters will not vote on the FLOST.

VALUE AFTER A SALE

If you sell your home, the value resets to the sale price. So the new buyer could pay a lot more in sales tax than you do.

"It does protect a surviving spouse. But when you sell the property, it resets at that point to whatever the sale price was," Rep. Camp said.

ONLY HOMESTEAD PROPERTY

This Amendment only applies to homestead property. In Georgia, you are only allowed to homestead one house.

Rep. Camp said the Amendment does not apply to "income-generating property" like rental homes, commercial and industrial properties. It does not apply to second homes either.

"Specifically homestead," she said.

HOMESTEAD EXEMPTION

Georgia has a homestead exemption for property taxes. If you own a home, you can apply for this exemption. Application is free and done at the Tax Commissioner's office. 

The exemption lowers the taxes you pay on that house.