THOMASVILLE- Thomas County Board of Commissioners are moving forward with House Bill 581, a bill that the majority of Georgians voted yes on in November for a statewide floating homestead exemption that would limit annual increases on assessed values of homesteads, unless a local government chooses to opt out.

House Bill 581 went into effect New Year’s Day. It was introduced by Rep. Shaw Blackmon (R-Bonaire) who represents parts of Houston County- one of Georgia’s wealthiest counties. Lawmakers representing southwest Georgia’s districts, many of them poor and rural, voted in favor of HB 581. Sixty three percent of Georgia’s constituents voted yes for the amendment.

The law essentially places a “freeze” on a home on a homestead’s value assessment. It does this by increasing the value of an exemption to offset inflation.

For example, under a typical floating homestead exemption, if a property had a taxable value of $100,000 and the taxable value increased the next year due to market changes to $110,000, the exemption “floats” to be worth $10,000 so the homeowner still pays taxes on the base year value of $100,000.

HB 581 is unique because the base year value is adjusted and will increase by an inflation rate determined by the State Revenue Commissioner- likely the consumer price index (CPI). So, take that same property with a value of $100,000 and say the CPI is 2% next year. Then that base value may increase up to 2% to give an adjusted base year value of $102,000. The homeowner would pay $102,000 in that second year.

It doesn’t affect homestead exemptions currently in place.

However, the law gives local governments a chance to opt out. Before they do that, they need to go through a process of advertising and hosting three public hearings- a process that couldn’t begin until Jan. 1 and must be completed by March 1.

If every city in a county decides not to opt out, then the county can pass a new local option sales tax, referred to as a FLOST, between half a cent and $0.01 that can be used for property tax relief. It’s only in place for five years. The FLOST is not available to school boards.

On Tuesday morning, Thomas County Board of Commissioners decided to move forward with HB 581. They have asked County Attorney Bruce Warren to draft up an intergovernmental contract that all municipalities would sign, calling for a referendum to be placed on the ballot by Feb. 11th.

As per the agreement, the FLOST would be set at $0.01, as long as no local governments opt out.

The City of Ochlocknee is set to hold two public hearings on January 22 at 4 p.m. and 6 p.m. and a third public hearing on January 23 at 5:30 p.m. to determine their stance on the matter.