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AJC.com > Legislature > Blog > Archives > 2009 > February > 12 > Entry
DEL.ICIO.USAssessment cap shot down in House
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The House voted down a proposal Thursday to cap county property assessments at no more than 3 percent a year.
Had it been approved, House Resoluton 1 would have gone to voters next year.
The House voted 105 to 67 for the resolution. However, the measure needed a two-thirds majority to win passage because it was a proposed constitutional amendment. The resolution, sponsored by Rep. Edward Lindsey (R-Atlanta), was aimed at holding down escalating property assessments used in deciding how much taxes Georgians pay.
The cap, if in place today, would have limited impact because property values have declined in the past year.
However, prior to that, many homeowners complained that counties were jacking up the taxable value of properties. By increasing the assessments, property owners had to pay higher taxes even if the millage rate remained the same because the property was “worth” more.
Lindsey said limiting increases in property assessments would eliminate such “back-door tax increases.”
“It’s time for us to look taxpayers in the eye and say, ‘we’re with you,’ ” Lindsey said.
Rep. Burke Day (R-Tybee Island), said county commissioners have been able to run for office saying they didn’t raise taxes.
“They didn’t have to raise taxes,” Day said. “The people they appointed to the board of assessors did it for them.”
However, opponents said because commercial property assessments would also be capped, homeowners would bear a larger burden for funding local services. Commericial property tax increases have helped mitigate taxes on homeowners, local officials say. And under the resolution, property values could be reassessed higher when homes and businesses are sold. Homes change hands more than business property, critics of the resolution said.
Rep. Stacey Abrams (D-Atlanta), said, “Fundamentally, it doesn’t work.”
House Minority Leader DuBose Porter (D-Dublin) said the assessment cap would mean less money for local governments, leading to lay offs for cities, counties and school districts.
“If you want to be part of laying off firefighters and police officers, vote for this bill,” Porter said.
But Rep. Ron Stephens (R-Savannah) said the same argument was made a decade ago when his areas approved assessment limits. That never happened, he said.
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