Local legislation that sets the stage to raise the Gwinnett County commission chair’s salary, and calls for a referendum on homestead exemptions for school taxes in the county, is heading to Gov. Brian Kemp for consideration.
The Georgia Senate passed House Bills 711, 748 and 777 on Wednesday. The House of Representatives had already passed the bills. It’s now up to Kemp. He can either sign them into law, or veto them.
House Bill 777 is one of two bills that have to become law to raise the commission chair’s salary. What that means is a raise is by no means guaranteed despite the passage of House Bill 777. A separate bill, Senate Bill 28, is still pending to repeal a population act that effectively blocks a raise for commissioners in counties with more than 800,000 residents.
If the population act is not repealed by Dec. 31, 2024, House Bill 777 will expire and efforts to raise the chair’s salary will have to start over from scratch in 2025.
If the population act is repealed, however, the chair’s salary would be equal to the base pay and local supplements that the Gwinnett sheriff receives. That would mean a raise of more than $100,000 for the chair, starting in 2025.
Commission chairwoman Nicole Love Hendrickson’s current salary is $90,921 while Sheriff Keybo Taylor makes $198,455 a year, including a base pay of $148,455 and a local supplement of $50,000, according to county officials.
Meanwhile, House Bill 711 opens the door to double the homestead exemption for Gwinnett school…
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