“Do we really want to opt out?”
Thus, the discussion began with the question from Ware County Commission Chairman Elmer Thrift to Tax Commissioner Roger Collins during the Tuesday, January 14 commission meeting.
It was in reference to House Bill 581, a homestead exemption bill passed by the legislature and voted in the affirmative by Ware County voters in November 2024.
Amendment #1
YES............8,369 .........63.02% NO..............4,910..........36.98% There is confusion about whether to “opt in” or “opt out” of the exemption. Each city municipality, county commission and Board of Education across the state can decide independently.
If a “political subdivision” (i.e. local government) already has in place a better system for determining homestead exemptions, then they can “opt out.”
According to Collins, Ware County and all its “political subdivisions” have a better homestead exemption system than the one HB581 provides.
HB581 provides a statewide ‘floating’ homestead exemption which will limit annual assessment increases on a homesteaded property to the rate of inflation based on the consumer price index set annually by the Georgia Department of Revenue.
The base year assessed value for a home will be initially set at the 2024 value of a home and resets whenever a home is sold or receives a substantial property change.
Ware County is one of only about 30 of the 159 counties in Georgia offering a “freeze” on the valuation of a taxpayer’s property used for their home. The freeze must be applied for — it is not automatic.
Once the freeze is in place, the value of a homestead will never go up (barring any legislative action in the future).
“If you value your job,” Collins said, speaking to all elected officials, “you probably will not mess with the freeze. The freeze value is the taxable value. That value will not increase, but the Fair Market Value will.
“Every property has to be revalued every three years and 581 does not prevent that, it prevents being taxed above a certain index percentage above their previous value. HB581 is good for taxpayers, but not in Ware County. Our freeze will always be better.”
The freeze for Ware County homeowners became law in 2002 with a 2001 bill sponsored by then-Representative Michael Boggs.
The freeze was expanded in 2008 to include city residents and the school board through the fforts of then-Representative Mark Hatfield.
Collins also said government associations, such as the Department of Revenue, the Association County Commissioners of Georgia (ACCG) and the Georgia Municipal Association (GMA) recently told him and Commissioner Jon Tindall during a recent informational meeting Ware County should definitely “opt out” of HB581.
Collins is expecting written documentation soon to confirm these opinions.
If Ware County opts in, the appraiser’s office must keep track of HB581 numbers as well as the freeze numbers.
“Our freeze numbers will always be the lesser,” said Collins. “Why burden an already overworked and understaffed appraiser’s office with more work?”
Tindall also commented about how he saw the freeze help in his property tax bill.
“This year, my house was re-evaluated and the appraised value went up,” said the commissioner. “But, when I looked at the taxable amount, it was way lower because of the freeze.”
Representative James Burchett explained his support for Ware County not to “opt out.”
“As an elected official, I attempt to do what I believe my constituents would like me to do,” said Burchett. “That is tough to gauge at times. In the case of HB581, it is not hard to gauge. Ware county voted 60-plus percent to support the bill. That is where my support begins.
“My perspective is the bill, at minimum, requires the assessments be done every three years which should help tax payers with predictability. We shouldn’t see the large increases we’ve seen recently. That in itself is enough for me to support not opting out.”
