Citizen Speaks At First School Board HB 581 Hearing

By LYDIA BERGLAR
News Editor

In order to opt out of Georgia House Bill 581’s floating homestead exemption, the Dade County Board of Education held the first of three public hearings on Jan. 9 at 6:15 p.m.

Much of what was mentioned at the meeting was covered previously in the Nov. 27, 2024, Dec. 18, 2024, and Jan. 8 issues of the Sentinel, so refer to those for more information.

Josh Ingle (superintendent) recapped the amount of money the school system would lose if the new floating exemption was in place. If the exemption had been in place from 2018-2024, the school system’s cumulative loss would have been $3,587,875.83.

In 2024 alone, the loss would have been $793,387.45, which Ingle explained was more than the value of one mill. The school system would have had to raise the millage rate or cut the budget, and Ingle said about 90 percent of the budget is for personnel, implying that budget cuts would likely mean staffing cuts.

School board millage rates in Georgia are capped at 20 mills, so there is the concern that eventually, the board would not be able to raise the millage to a rate that meets the budget.

Ingle noted Floating Local Option Sales Tax (FLOST), the one cent sales tax that counties and cities who don’t opt out of the exemption can put before the voters. Of course, voters could vote against this new tax, but school boards don’t even have the opportunity to put this before the voters.

The board members and Ingle clarified that by opting out, nothing changes from how the school board currently collects taxes. As Jayne Griffin (At-Large representative) said, “It’s not raising anybody’s taxes if we opt out.”

Griffin asked Ingle what other districts are saying about the issue. He reported that of the 17 school districts in Northwest Georgia Regional Education Service Agency (RESA), 16 intend to opt out and one was unsure right before Christmas. Of these 17 counties, Floyd is the only one with a local homestead exemption.

Steve Forester (Lookout Mountain representative) clarified that the adjustment to the rate of inflation is determined at the state level rather than the local level. (Values from 2024 would be used as the base rate, but the state would decide what the rate of inflation is in the future.)

Griffin said, “So really, the control for this is not local at all. It’s state controlled.”

Jennifer Hartline (Sand Mountain representative) explained her view that local control is best. “Whether it’s up or down, the people in these seats and the taxpayers communicate in what they would like to see…I don’t want to sit here and have to raise the millage rate.”

A small handful of citizens attended the hearing, one of whom spoke during Public Input. Leisa Cagle explained that she saw the advertised notice in the Sentinel, so she began researching the bill and called Paula Duvall (chief tax assessor) to learn more.

Cagle explained that she is concerned about the board’s decision to opt out because 72 percent of Dade voters voted for the bill, and 63 percent of Georgia voters voted for it. She noted rising property values and, therefore, property taxes. “This bill would stop some of that, and I think that would be a welcome change in Dade County because many of us have seen huge increases in our property tax values.”

Noting the inflationary rate, Cagle said, “This bill limits but does not eliminate increases in value.”

She concluded, “As members of the school board, you are the largest taxing entity in Dade County…Dade County taxpayers spoke in November.”

The meeting was adjourned after Cagle spoke.

The board will have two more public hearings at the central office as part of the opt-out process: Jan. 16 at 11:30 a.m. and Jan. 23 at 5 p.m. On Jan. 27 at 4:30 p.m. (just before the regular monthly meeting), the board will vote on the resolution to opt out.