Two veterans in the Middle Georgia state House district I represent recently reached out to me, concerned that rising property taxes would eventually force them from their homes. Even here in conservative Houston County, where local leaders have worked to roll back millage rates to prevent backdoor tax increases through rising assessments, these seniors’ worries are all too common across the population.
And though property tax rates are set by local governments, not the General Assembly, rising property tax bills have emerged as the No. 1 complaint legislators hear from many constituents. As chairman of the House’s tax policy committee, I can’t lower property tax bills, but my colleagues and I are committed to leading by example.
Our Republican majority in the House, where state tax policy originates, has prioritized tax cuts. House Republicans believe that money is best left – and used most efficiently – by the hard-working Georgians who earned it. That’s not just rhetoric: In the 2020s we’ve returned over $10 billion to taxpayers in refunds and year-over-year tax cuts.
We have returned billions back to income taxpayers through rebates of up to $500 for families and $250 for individuals. This method has particularly benefited the working-class families hardest hit by years of high inflation.
Lowering the income tax from 6 percent – where it had stayed consistently since it was created during the Great Depression – down to 5 percent (we are currently 4/5 of the way there) is saving taxpayers billions more. A family of four with a household income of $50,000 or a single mom earning $70,000 will save more than $600 a year. We’ve more than doubled the standard deduction up to $12,000 per person and raised the dependent deduction up to $4,000 per child. Therefore, a family of four with a household income of $32,000 has an effective tax rate of zero.
This not only fulfills our conservative principles of lowering taxes rather than spending more of your money but also strengthens our competitiveness when it comes to attracting new jobs – site-selecting executives who make those decisions will consider their own tax implications.
While state legislators and the governor respect local control, we have and will continue to look for ways to address the concerns of our constituents. We used surplus funds to backfill local governments so that property owners could get a one-time property tax reduction of up to $500. Most importantly, we passed a constitutional amendment that intends to protect homeowners by limiting year-to-year tax assessment increases to the rate of inflation.
Georgia voters passed the amendment on the ballot with a huge majority. This support reflects both the common sense and fair approach to this policy but also the pain that surging property tax bills are causing many families.
The amendment, however, is not a panacea. To get the supermajority of votes needed to pass amendment through the General Assembly, a compromise allowed local governments to opt out of this requirement. Currently, 328 out of 876 local governments – counties, cities, school boards – have exercised their right to opt out. In fairness, not all of these governments are trying to escape fiscal accountability. Some already have strong homestead exemptions that protect homeowners. But others simply don’t want any constraints.
Whereas House Republicans govern by the principle that we must cover the expenses of our constitutional obligations and then return as much as possible to the taxpayers, some government leaders see their job as finding a way to spend every dollar that comes in and then go get more.
In Fulton County, which includes Atlanta, residents already pay some of the highest property tax rates in the state, but local leaders don’t think it’s enough. Some Fulton commissioners propose to raise millage rates by more than 12 percent, and that’s over and above valuation increases. We’re seeing tax increases in many rural areas that have higher levels of low income and fixed income residents who struggle to pay rising bills.
On the state level, we’ve managed to fund our spending priorities while lowering taxes. Our teachers are the highest paid in the Southeast, our law enforcement has received significant raises in recent years, those in need receive health coverage and we’ve added billions in much-needed transportation infrastructure.
We strike that hard balance by having to say no to new spending that would require more of your money. At a time when cost of living remains a top concern for many Georgia families, governments at all levels must learn to just say no to new spending and yes to prioritizing affordability.
State Rep. Shaw Blackmon (R-Bonaire) chairs the House of Representatives Ways and Means Committee.
