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More than two-thirds of Oglethorpe County voters approved an amendment that could lower their property taxes.
The Board of Education has opted out of HB 581, but the county and three cities will stay in.
The amendment, which was officially ratified statewide in the 2024 general election, approved a local option homestead property tax exemption. This means that the value of homes would be frozen, therefore limiting any increases in property taxes. The amendment also offered local city and county governments and school boards to opt out of the exemption.
“The intent of this, and I like the intent of it, is to get some of the burden off of ad valorem tax towards a sales tax,” Oglethorpe County Commission Chair Jay Paul said. “We’re wanting more money to come from sales tax than property tax.”
All cities that pay property taxes within the county must agree to stay opted-in to HB 581.
“We all must be together on this,” Paul said. “If one’s out, we’re all out.”
Maxeys does not levy its own property tax, so it is subject to the county’s decision.
“The bill is not a real issue for us as a city,” Maxeys Mayor Edward Toledano said in an email. “We would be subject to whatever choices the county makes on this, as we do pay county taxes.”
Arnoldsville, Crawford and Lexington, which levy property taxes, haven’t held the public hearings required to opt out of HB 581 and are therefore abiding with HB 581.
For county governments, the revenue lost from less property taxes can be made up through a new floating local option sales tax, or FLOST, which would need to be approved by Oglethorpe County voters in a future election and would add an extra 1% onto sales taxes in the county.
School districts cannot participate in the FLOST, so the only way to make up for lost revenue is to raise the millage rate, which is limited.
According to Paul, around 90% of school districts across the state are opting out of HB 581. Every neighboring school system has either opted out or announced it intends to opt out of HB 581.
Most local governments, around 75% across the state, are choosing to stay in.
“In order to maintain the level of educational services, we would continue to raise the millage rate,” Superintendent Beverley Levine said in previous Echo reporting. “We do not want folks in Atlanta determining what is best for Oglethorpe County.”