With a runup in home values sparking higher property taxes for many Georgia homeowners, there is a groundswell among state lawmakers in this election year to provide relief.
Georgia’s Senate Finance Committee plans a hearing on Monday on a bill limiting increases in a home’s value, as assessed for property tax purposes, to 3% per year. The limit would last as long as the owner maintained a homestead exemption. Voters would have to approve the plan in a November referendum.
Meanwhile, Republican House Speaker Jon Burns of Newington proposes doubling the state’s homestead tax exemption, a measure likely to cut tax bills by nearly $100 million statewide.
It’s like these lawmakers don’t know what a mill rate is or something. Property assessments are just to determine that people with more real estate wealth pay more of the share of taxes. Remarkably, it’s a progressive tax.
I understand that people that have had their houses for decades in a gentrified area get fucked, but that’s a problem for a different solution. Most houses change hands often enough that you know you’re going to be in a high tax neighborhood or not.