All the talk about reforming Fulton County government ended up being just that —talk.

When the speaker's gavel banged down on the 2008 session of the Georgia General Assembly, a whole series of proposed major changes fell short of approval.

The most significant local issue to pass ended up being a possible change in the county's homestead exemption. But even that was scaled back sharply.

"Our reach exceeded our grasp," said state Rep. Edward Lindsey (R-Atlanta).

Lindsey headed a legislative study committee that spent last fall looking at operations of county government. Early this year, they finished their work with a series of recommendations that would invest more power in the County Commission chairman, reduce the number of commissioners, curtail the power of the sheriff and give marshals the ability to serve all civil papers.

Most of the proposals passed out of the study committee unanimously. So Lindsey went into the 2008 session optimistic of making major changes.

"We had a lot of great ideas that should have passed," Lindsey said. "We are going to have to come back and keep working on it."

Several appeared headed for approval as the session entered its final two weeks. They already had enough signatures to pass as local bills. But then several Democrats took their names off in protest of a Grady reform bill passed by the House.

Rep. Bob Holmes (D-Atlanta) was a member of the study committee and pulled his name off the bills. He said there was no great loss in their failure.

"They were fatally flawed from the beginning," Holmes said. He noted that the committee had just three black Democrats outnumbered 4-to-1 by white Republican members.

The homestead bills pushed by Rep. Margaret Kaiser (D-Atlanta) would have originally increased the homestead exemption from Atlanta, Atlanta school and Fulton County taxes from $15,000 to $50,000.

The version that passed cut that to $30,000 by 2012, if voters approve it in November. The bills ran into intense opposition from local governments that complained they'd lose millions of dollars and have to cut services.

Kaiser said she was pleased to get any version on the ballot, even if it fell short of her original goal.

"I wish it was $50,000," Kaiser said. "I wish it was the original bill. People were just uncomfortable with the big number. But it's fine. We can come back and revisit it later."