Both the Decatur commission and city school board are expected to draft resolutions later this year seeking homestead exemptions for seniors 65 and over. Although driven by several factors, neither board could’ve missed the recent plea to commissioners from about a dozen residents who’ve lived in their Oakhurst homes nearly a half century or more.
“We’ve helped make this the most desirable city in the state,” said former Mayor Elizabeth Wilson, who moved to Decatur in 1949. “We worked, we paid off our houses, and we volunteered with the recreation department and the schools. I never thought we’d be faced with the possibility of losing our homes because we can’t afford the taxes.”
Decatur’s tax digest went up 20 percent this year, though it’s still unknown how many re-evaluations actually had tax increases.
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