City Schools of Decatur’s Senior Homestead Exemption Commission will bring a final recommendation for a new school tax exemption during the school board’s Dec. 8 virtual meeting. Because a new exemption must get passed by the 2021 General Assembly, which begins sessions in January, Decatur’s board has to sign off on it this month.
The nine-person Commission, which has been meeting regularly since April, has already recommended two new exemptions, one for residents 65-69 and another for those 70 and over. What should come out of this month’s board meeting is a definitive exemption amount, with the Commission still waiting on more detailed metrics from Georgia State University’s Andrew Young School Center for State & Local Finance.
During a November board meeting the Commission recommended a tentative exemption of $160,000, which essentially means this:
*Those in the 65-69 bracket get the $160,000 exemption if they meet an income requirement of making 80 percent (or less) of metro Atlanta’s annual median income for a two-person household, currently $52,960. At 70 and over the income requirement is deleted and everyone gets the $160,000 exemption.
*Given City Schools of Decatur’s current millage rate of 20.25, an $160,000 exemption is worth $3,240 in school taxes you don’t pay. For example, if you own a $400,000 house, you are taxed at 50 percent or $200,000, meaning that with the exemption you are taxed on only the remaining $40,000, so you pay $3,240 less in taxes.
If you own a condo valued at $250,000 you are taxed for $125,000 which, since its below $160,000, you pay no school taxes. The bottom line is, for every senior 65-69 who meets the income requirement, or every senior 70 and over and regardless of income, you pay no school taxes or $3,240 less in school taxes.
*The school board has stated unequivocally it doesn’t want the exemption costing more than $4.3 million annually. During a recent interview Superintendent David Dude said, “We know [from an earlier Georgia State study] we can fit that $160,000 exemption within the $4.3 million budget. But that is a minimum—we may be able to offer more. It depends on what we hear back [from Georgia State].
“It’s quite possible,” he added, “the exemption will be higher than $160,000, but we know it won’t be lower than $160,000.”
The current exemption that took effect Jan. 2017, offers seniors 65 and over full exemption of all school taxes. But that has wound up costing CSD well over $4.3 million every year so far, and it’s also expiring Dec. 31, 2021. That means the new exemption must pass the legislature next year and ultimately pass voter scrutiny in Nov. 2021, to take effect Jan. 2022.
When asked the reasoning behind a two-tiered exemption instead of having just one overall exemption, Dude replied, “I think [the Commission] instituted the 65-69 [income restricted tier] because they wanted to make sure to help the most vulnerable seniors as early as possible.”
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