Tuesday, January 28, 2025–11:00 a.m.
-David Crowder, WRGA News-
On Monday it was announced that the Floyd County Board of Education will not opt out of House Bill 581, which implements a floating homestead exemption on school property taxes across the state.
According to Danny Womack, Floyd County’s chief tax appraiser, there is already a homestead freeze that the citizens of Rome and Floyd County voters voted to enact in 2002.
“The homestead freeze applies to your county M&O [maintenance and operations], city M&O, fire, and solid waste if you’re in the county, and if you’re in the city, it applies to city capital,” he said. The freeze exempts homestead property from the inflationary increases from year to year and that’s a 100% exemption.”
For example, if the value of a home goes from $100,000 to $120,000, the homeowners receive an exemption for the full $20,000 difference. That is different than the floating exemption in House Bill 581.
“Under the float, you are exempted you are exempted on the difference between the market value and the amount of adjustment that is allowed by the state revenue commissioner,” Womack said. So, each year the state revenue commissioner will determine what the adjustment should be according to inflation and the taxable value on your homestead property can go up only that much.”
Also as part of HB 581, citizens will be able to vote to implement an extra penny sales tax to directly offset property taxes.
“Any amount that is captured with that one penny can only be utilized to offset the millage rate,” Womack said. So, the powers that be will take their sales tax revenue and convert it into a millage rate, and then they will reduce their jurisdiction’s mileage rate offset that, further reducing the property tax burden.”
Unlike the homestead exemption, the reduction in the millage rate would apply to everyone.
Womack was a guest on Tuesday’s First News with Doug Walker on WRGA.
