Catoosa County, Georgia, voters will decide in November whether to give some residents a small break on school taxes.
The Georgia Senate approved a local act Thursday morning to put a referendum on this year's ballot, asking whether to create a new homestead exemption. The break would apply only on school property taxes for residents older than 65 who earn less than $30,000 in income a year.
The exemption would reduce the assessed value of a homeowner's property by $40,000. This is on top of the standard exemption on the first 60 percent of a homeowner's land. Under that standard exemption, a property owner with $100,000 worth of land pays taxes as if it were worth $40,000. If someone receives this new exemption in Catoosa County, he or she would pay no tax.
Superintendent Denia Reese announced the proposal in November, arguing it would provide a needed lift.
"Some of our elderly residents are on a fixed income and have lots of expenses - medical bills, prescriptions, utility bills," she said at the time.
The school district already exempts 100 percent of property taxes on residents older than 75. Director of Finance Blake Stansell told the Times Free Press last year that the new break would cost the district about $670,000 a year. That would be about 2.5 percent of the $26.6 million the district budgeted in property tax revenue for fiscal year 2019.
The local act passed the state House last week, carried by state Rep. Dewayne Hill, R-Ringgold, and state Rep. Steve Tarvin, R-Chickamauga. State Sen. Jeff Mullis, R-Chickamauga, carried the act in his chamber.
Catoosa County's measure comes at the same time that Dade County - which has a considerably bigger exemption - is making a small tweak. Though he has not yet dropped it, state Rep. Colton Moore, R-Trenton, promised to introduce a local act. It would put a referendum on a ballot in 2020, asking voters whether to add a wrinkle to their school tax homestead exemption.
Right now, everyone in Dade County at least 65 years old pays no school property taxes. His proposal would require residents to own property for at least five years before earning the exemption.
Contact staff writer Tyler Jett at 423-757-6476 or tjett@timesfreepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @LetsJett.