Georgia senators want to limit how much assessed home values can rise for tax purposes, in an election-year effort to hold down property taxes.
The state Senate voted 42-7 on Thursday for Senate Bill 349, which would limit increases in a home’s value, as assessed for property tax purposes, to 3% per year. The limit would last as long as owners maintain a homestead exemption, typically as long as they own a home.
Voters would have to approve the plan in a November referendum.
RISING RENT PRICES PUSH RECORD NUMBER OF AMERICANS TOWARD HOUSING CRISIS, PROMPTING LEGISLATIVE ACTION
“It is to prevent people from being taxed out of their homes,” said Senate Finance Committee Chairman Chuck Hufstetler, the Rome Republican sponsoring the measure. “Their income is often not going up with the taxes, which are going up by the hundreds or thousands of dollars.”
Property taxes are a hot issue for many Georgia lawmakers this year, facing complaints that bills have steadily risen along with home values. And Georgia is far from the only state where lawmakers are reacting to voter discontent over higher levies, with states including Texas, Kansas, Colorado and Pennsylvania seeing the issue take center stage over the past year.
But it’s not clear if the Senate approach will pass, in part because the House has a different property tax cut plan.
House members earlier this month voted 162-0 for a bill that would increase the statewide homestead tax exemption to $4,000 from the current $2,000. That could save some homeowners $100 a year on the tax bills, but it would not apply in some counties that already have local homestead tax exemptions. It’s unclear how many homeowners the measure would benefit.
Key House lawmakers have said they don’t want to impose a statewide cap on valuations, instead allowing such decisions to made locally. Another bill progressing in the House would allow an optional 3% value cap in any county without further legislation.
Republicans in Georgia have long…
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