Monday, January 27, 2025–6:10 p.m.
-John Bailey, Rome News-Tribune-
This story is possible because of a news-sharing agreement with the Rome News-Tribune. More information can be found at northwestgeorgianews.com
The Floyd County Board of Education on Monday announced that it will not opt out of HB 581, allowing county residents to take advantage of the homestead tax break on school taxes.
“We greatly appreciate the public feedback and took all that into consideration before making this decision,” Floyd County BOE Chair Danny Waits said Monday.
House Bill 581 created a floating homestead exemption based on the inflation rate. Before the bill was passed residents, with a few exceptions, did not receive their homestead exemption on school taxes. Rome and Floyd County residents already receive a homestead exemption on local government taxes higher than the one mandated in HB 581.
Many school systems across the state are in the process of opting out of provisions in HB 581. The law requires three public hearings before voting on the matter.
The county school board had a third public hearing planned for Wednesday but canceled that hearing.
What’s next?
Rome and Floyd County voters later this year will have the option to vote on an extra 1-cent added to the sales tax, which would help defray property taxes across the board.
All of the funds collected through that extra cent would be directly applied to city and county property taxes.
However, the city and county will need to come up with an agreement on how the funds collected from that extra cent would be distributed. That process would be similar to the current local option sales tax agreement between the city, county and Cave Spring. However, it does not have to be the same distribution factor.
The local option sales tax agreement is a tax revenue sharing agreement that must be renewed every 10 years. Under the most recent agreement, Rome’s percentage increased from 41.7% to 45.2% and Floyd County’s went from 56.5% to 53%. Cave Spring’s share stayed the same at 1.8% of the proceeds.
