After the third and final public hearing as required by law Thursday night, the Dade County Board of Education is poised to formally opt out from participating in Georgia’s recently enacted tax homestead law known as House Bill 581, in a board vote scheduled for early next week.
The measure was approved by Georgia voters in the November election, garnering 63% of the vote statewide.
In Dade County, HB 581 passed with 72% of voters approving of the bill, which in essence freezes property tax assessments to the rate of inflation.
But the law allows local government entities with taxing ability until March 1st to declare whether or not they will opt out of the new state law.
Dade Schools Superintendent Josh Ingle says the numbers simply don’t add up to the school system’s favor as it applies to HB 581.
Ingle noted in Dade’s first public hearing on the opt-out scenario, a study of the law’s impact against the past five years of school revenues would mean the loss of more than $3.5 million dollars to the Dade County School System.
Ingle says in his view, Dade’s existing homestead exemption and current millage rate benefits both the property owner and the school system more than House Bill 581 would, citing his revenue study of Dade’s tax digests.
Lookout Mountain’s newly elected board member Steve Forester lamented the numbers being discussed as “only projections” and how the bill itself was written and presented on the ballot.
Forester says he understands how some voters who supported the measure may now disagree with the board’s intent to opt out, but he compared the 2,061 no votes the measure garnered to the current 2,063 student population of Dade County Schools. Forester also stated that voters who approved of HB 581, also approved the “opt out” stipulation that they plan to pursue.
Commissioner at large Dr Jayne Griffith concluded that any loss in revenue eventually impacts student learning in the classroom.
Not hearing any objections from board members, Superintendent Ingle set a formal vote on the HB 581 matter for Monday, January 27th at 4:30pm
-by Vince Lennon