With a runup in home values sparking higher property taxes for many Georgia homeowners, there is a groundswell among state lawmakers in this election year to provide relief.
Georgia’s Senate Finance Committee plans a hearing on Monday on a bill limiting increases in a home’s value, as assessed for property tax purposes, to 3% per year. The limit would last as long as the owner maintained a homestead exemption. Voters would have to approve the plan in a November referendum.
Meanwhile, Republican House Speaker Jon Burns of Newington proposes doubling the state’s homestead tax exemption, a measure likely to cut tax bills by nearly $100 million statewide.
It’s a value increase on paper only; there’s no material value being created. Again, it’s only benefitting people who are selling their home.
There’s also no material value being created when the price of a stored commodity goes up because of fluctuations in supply and demand, but that doesn’t make the change in value any less real. There’s no material value being created in a specific property when a business moves in across the town, but that doesn’t make the increase any less real. I don’t know how this issue is supposed to be discussed if we’re disregarding the notion of property value outside of material improvements to the property itself.