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?
The following was written in response to Senator Chip Rogers’ 2/13/09 article for the Georgia Public Policy Foundation, “Count on Tax Assessment Caps to Offer Property Owners Accountability:”
Senator Rogers is wrong when he writes that assessment caps are the best way to impose accountability on local officials.
First, there can be no real accountability resulting from an assessment cap because of the primary flaw in the tax law– a City Council, County Commission or School Board can currently adopt any millage rate that it chooses. There is no law that requires them to adopt a tax rate that has any connection to the cost of government. As a consequence, many adopt a tax rate that takes more from property owners than is required to fund government services. And the overtaxation happens even when the millage rate remains the same from year to year. Read more…
I have written an article describing, with actual numbers, the (I believe, unconstitutional) inequity inherent in HB-233, which was approved by the Georgia House of Representatives on Thursday. Click the link below.
The State Constitution requires that government treat its citizens equitably, except where the legislative creation of a special classification can be reasonably justified. In operation, HB-233 creates a special class of taxpayer– "Owner of a Property Substantially Increasing in Value"– and rewards him with a significant tax benefit.
MillageRate.com: Why HB-233 Is Unconstitutional… And Dangerous
Lindsey said freezing property assessments would eliminate such “back-door tax increases.”
Rep. Edward Lindsey (R-Atlanta) is wrong about HR-1, which would impose an assessment ‘freeze’ constitutionally, or HB-233 which seeks to do the same thing without a constitutional amendment for a two-year period. Not only is he wrong, but his ignorance is a danger to local governments, taxpayers and the Georgia property tax system.
Dalton City Council member Charlie Bethel considers some of the problems with a tax assessment “freeze” in this article for the Georgia Public Policy Foundation.
Columbus, GA has had an assessment freeze in place longer than just about any Georgia community. Apparently, the middle-Georgia city has become the poster child for unfairness in property taxation:
Consider Columbus property owners, who have had an assessment "freeze" on homestead property for more than 25 years. More than 16,000 property owners pay less than $50 in local government property taxes, while newer residents in similar properties may pay upwards of $2,000. That means families who were not fortunate enough to acquire a home in the early 1980s are now subsidizing the property tax payments of those that did.
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