Decatur’s school board approved giving full exemptions from the school tax millage for seniors 65 and over with no restrictions based on income. The move, however, is preliminary to several subsequent actions. It would also need approval by the city, likely requiring a formal vote by city commissioners according to Deputy City Manager Hugh Saxon. Next comes approval by the 2016 General Assembly followed by voter approval in November 2016, at the earliest.
“We want to keep our seniors in the community,” said board member Lewis Jones. “But we also don’t want them getting replaced by families with four children.”
In June, Mayor Jim Baskett promised a senior-citizen group that the city would pursue its own homestead exemption — the city and school system have separate millage rates — to help offset the 20 percent increase in Decatur’s tax digest. Decatur had a homestead exemption bill in this past general assembly, ultimately defeated in the House.
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