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AJC.com > Legislature > Blog > Archives > 2009 > February > 26 > Entry
DEL.ICIO.USSenate passes property assessment cap
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The Georgia Senate voted Thursday to ban property assessment increases for the next two years to hold down property taxes.
The Senate passed the measure 42 to 5, after no debate, with all the “no” votes coming from Democrats.
Senate Majority Leader Chip Rogers (R-Woodstock) said the bill would prevent assessments from increasing, but would not prevent assessments from falling, which many have already.
“Georgians have lost billions of dollars of wealth in their property in the last couple of years,” Rogers said.
Republicans want to make sure the assessments follow the market trend and that homeowners struggling to make ends meet are not taxed out of their homes.
Opponents say the cap would put a burden on cities, counties and school districts, leaving them with a stagnant tax base. It could require local governments to raise tax rates in order to collect more taxes, rather than relying on increased property values.
Sen. Doug Stoner (D-Smyrna), who missed the vote on the bill, said he was “sick of this,” saying the measure interfered with local governments’ ability to collect taxes and provide services.
“We can’t solve our own problems and so we start sticking our noses into everybody else’s business,” Stoner said.
House Bill 233 is another in a series of bills Republicans have introduced this session dealing with property tax issues and assessments. Supporters say the bills will provide homeowners with tax relief, while opponents call the measures smoke and mirrors that will actually require local governments to cut services or raise millage rates to make up for lost taxes.
House Bill 233 has already passed the House and was amended by the Senate in committee.
Senators added language that would exempt about five counties from the property assessment cap temporarily. Those counties are in the midst of county-wide reassessments. The cap would have interfered with that work, possibly nullifying millions of dollars of assessment work already done, Rogers said.
The Senate also added language that would allow increases in assessments if a property were divided, rezoned, or if an assessor had missed a room, for example, Rogers said.
Because of the changes, House Bill 233 must go back to the House for consideration.
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By ATLLD
March 3, 2009 3:27 PM | Link to this
Property values are generally drifting downward now. How could any taxing authority raise a current property assessment with a straight face over the next two years. If anything, the assessments would be lowered if the property owner protested their assessment.
Therefore, this is a symbolic bill that has no effect, really.
In the event that a particular property assessment is way out-of-date and severely undervalued, then the assessment “should” be increased. In this sense, this bill does interfere with a taxing authority to do their job.