MillageRate.com

The following was sent to members of the Georgia House this morning. We invite you to reinforce the message by contacting your own state legislator.

Good morning, Representative.

Have you ever SERIOUSLY considered WHY Rep.Edward Lindsey’s assessment cap proposal, HR-1, must be enacted as a Constitutional amendment?

Our State Constitutional requires FAIRNESS IN TAXATION:

“…. all taxation shall be uniform upon the same class of subjects within the territorial limits of the authority levying the tax.”  (Article VII, Section I, Paragraph III)

In other words, people who own properties that ARE the same must be TAXED the same.

HR-1 would add an EXCEPTION to FAIRNESS.

It would allow the owner of one home to pay LESS than his fair share of the cost of government while requiring the owner of a similar home– even one right NEXT DOOR– to pay MORE than his fair share.

Rep. Lindsey and the supporters of HR-1 are asking you to ADD INEQUITY to our State Constitution. They are asking you to FORCE one taxpayer to pay more for the same government services than another, equally-situated taxpayer.

Why would you support legislation that purports to HELP some taxpayers, but can only do so by PUNISHING other taxpayers?

TO DEMOCRATS:

On this issue, you are RIGHT! You should continue to oppose HR-1 and any legislation that would add INEQUITY and COMPLEXITY to our Constitution. If you succeed in stopping HR-1, you will have protected Georgia taxpayers from one of the most dangerous tax proposals to ever make it to the floor of the House.

Insist that the majority enact property tax reform that SIMPLIFIES the OCGA and does so without harming Georgia taxpayers. It can be done!

TO REPUBLICANS:

You are supposed to be the party of fiscal and legislative conservatism. Act like it! A party line vote on an issue as OBVIOUSLY WRONG as HR-1 is inexcusable.

Reject HR-1 and let me show you a way that you can SOLVE the problem of “back door tax increases” while simplifying the tax code, promoting fairness and imposing true accountability on local governments.

Draft Legislation: http://www.millagerate.com/law/bill.htm

Commentary: http://www.millagerate.com/blog/

The House has voted to reconsider HR-1 after it failed to receive enough votes to pass last week. The bill was returned to committee but could resurface this week.