A two-year-old challenge to the homestead assessment `freeze` in Dade County, GA has finally gone to court. Superior Court Judge Brian House is expected to rule soon in a case that could set a precedence for ending unconstitutional assessment caps across the state.
Former County Commissioner Rex Blevins sued the county, alleging that the law that `freezes` a property’s value for tax purposes creates a special class of taxpayer, which is prohibited by the state Constitution.
We have published numerous articles on the harm to taxpayers inherent in the assessment caps.
Blevins and Townley made the argument during the hearing that granting a tax exemption to people eligible to apply for it in that year puts them in a favored class over those who buy later, offending standards of uniformity. “What you’re basically saying is, if you’re living right here and you’re voting right now, you’re going to get a tax break and we’re going to take care of you, compared to other folks that come in and buy property later,” said Townley.
The Dade County Sentinel
If you want to know about effective property tax reform, don’t ask a politician. Check with a professional:
“Every state that has implemented this — California, Colorado, and Florida — has ended up with higher property taxes,” he said. “The perception behind this is crazy. Tax bills are dictated by budgets. You start freezing values and only updating recent sells or new construction and rates will go up.”
Dobbs said especially in a year when the state is cutting back allocations to counties for road paving, the idea of freezing values was poorly thought out. He said they are virtually guaranteeing that local government will be forced to raise tax rates to cover the loss from frozen values and fewer state grants.
Pickens County Progress – Pickens Chief Tax Appraiser predicts confusion and frustration with property tax value freeze
House Republicans will try once again to pass HR1, a resolution calling for a vote on a constitutional amendment to impose a permanent, statewide assessment cap. I sent the following to every member of the House by email:
House Democrats– please continue to resist efforts to pass HR1, now incorporated into SR1.
On this issue (statewide assessment cap), YOU ARE RIGHT and the REPUBLICANS ARE WRONG. The harm that this bill will cause is measurable and easily proven.
By resisting SR1/HR1, you will give Georgians REAL TAX RELIEF because you will have protected them from HIGHER TAX RATES caused by ignorant, POLITICALLY-MOTIVATED REPUBLICANS.
I am a conservative, but I am also intellectually honest. I am disgusted by Republicans’ refusal to understand this issue.
Please visit MillageRate.com/blog/ for more info. If you have any questions, you are welcome to contact me at 770-713-8070. Further, I am available to respond on your behalf to any effort by Republicans to use this vote against you.
It takes a two-thirds majority to call a referendum. That means Democrats would have to vote for it. They didn’t. Now the legislation is back. The House Rules Committee pasted it into Senate Resolution 1, state Sen. Chip Rogers repeated effort to get some sort of TABOR amendment into the state constitution.
Georgia Legislative Watch » HR 1 back from the dead
Democrat Senators Tim Golden (D-Valdosta) and Doug Stoner (D-Smyrna) have co-authored an editorial highlighting the foundational problem with HB-233, Rep. Edward Lindsey’s assessment cap legislation that passed the Senate yesterday and is headed for the Governor’s desk:
We do need to deal with rising property taxes in a responsible way. State government has actually been a big part of the problem – especially when it comes to shifting the burden to the local level. By handcuffing local governments through drastic funding cuts and unfunded mandates, the state has practically guaranteed that property taxes will go up, and go up they have.
We have railed against this harmful legislation for weeks, but our reasoned analysis fell on deaf ears. Although the two Senators failed to offer the only workable solution to the problems with Georgia’s tax code, they recognized that the State Legislature, with what “solution” it offers, usually just compounds the problem.
Erick at Peach Pundit questions just how committed to `tax relief` the two Democrats are. Neither Senator even voted when the time to oppose HB-233 came.
Valdosta Daily Times – Passing the buck to local governments is not ‘tax relief’
The Georgia State Senate has passed an amended version of HB-233, a bill to prohibit increases in the assessed value of property for the next two years. The changes will probably have to be reconciled with the House version, but the vote puts the bill one step closer to passage.
Almost every Senator from my home county of Gwinnett, both Republican and Democrat, voted FOR this bill. That is extremely unfortunate, as this article at TalkGwinnett.com explains.
Gwinnett property owners already face an estimated 2-mill increase this year. If it passes, HB-233 will add another .02 mills– approximately $22– on a tax bill that is already increasing by $144 for the owner of a $200,000 home.
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