Empty Threats and Tradeoffs on "Save Our Homes" Law (HB581).
Bartow School System wants to scare you into submission with threat to end to senior exemptions and other exemptions.
By David McKalip, M.D.
The School system is using a lame political cudgel to try to divide people away from supporting the “Save Our Homes” law to limit property tax hikes. They are trying to offer threats of removing Senior Homestead exemptions and other exemptions.
They say that there is no way they can allow property taxes to ONLY go up at the rate of inflation in Georgia (as per HB581/ “Save Our Homes” act). And to help sell this to the public, they are offering threats like: “We will have to end the Senior homestead exemption and other local Homestead exemptions too”.
Sounds like the wicked witch threatening Toto.
Well folks, worry not. Because the number of seniors getting Homestead exemptions is a relatively small percent of the tax base. Furthermore, even if the senior exemptions and the standard (new) $15,000 exemption were ended, people would still be doing better with the bigger exemption from the limited future tax hikes based on inflation. These are just empty threats that ignore the benefit of trading UP to the Save Our Homes tax-hike limit.
Come Speak Monday 1/27 at 6 pm at the Bartow School Board meeting 65 Gilreath Road1.
The Numbers
The number of people receiving the various tax exemptions for the Bartow School System property tax was obtained from local government sources (School Board, Tax Collector and Tax Assessor).
The number of total taxed properties in Bartow County is around 50,000 (that specific final number is still coming from sources). The number of people with the $15,000 exemption (which was $5,000 until this year) was 9,477 in 2024.
The number of seniors receiving exemptions includes those 65 and over ($60,000 exemption, 75 and over ($80,000) and 80 and older ($200,000) was calculated.
The total number of seniors receiving homestead exemptions (2024 numbers) was:
65 years old: 4041 homes
75 years old : 1155 Homes
80 years old: 1156 Homes
TOTAL: 6,352 Senior exemptions
$15,000 exemptions: 9,477 Homes
Disabled who earn <$36,000 ($28,000 exemption) : 34 Homes
TOTAL WITH EXEMPTIONS: 15,863
Total taxpaying properties in Bartow (estimate per Tax Assessor office - final number forthcoming): 50,000
Number of NON-EXEMPT properties from the inflation based hike - about 34,150!
[Quick question: why does our local newspaper not do analysis like this? Just asking. “The management”.]
Empty Threats
Empty threat 1: First, lets get one thing very clear. The number of properties exempt from the tax hike would be only about 15,800 of the total 50,000 taxed properties. Thus about 34,150 would STILL see property tax hikes based on the value of their property, rather than inflation (that is, about 70% of properties). This should provide substantial revenue to the School system even with the Save Our Homes Exemption. Empty threat!
Empty threat 2: There are about 6,300 seniors out of about 50,000 taxpaying properties who are getting part of their homestead value exempted from property taxes. This is a relatively small percent impact on tax collections, since they already have large exemptions. There is only one reason they needed this exemption any way: Massive and Greedy annual tax hikes by the school board for many years. The new “Save Our Homes” exemptions based on inflation will help seniors far more. There are two things that make the threat to end senior homestead exemptions an empty threat: 1) Politics and 2) Tradeoffs.
Empty threat 3: Politically, it would be pure political suicide for school board members to abruptly end the senior homestead exemption. The Senior homestead exemption is very strongly supported. Any school Board member who DARED to end such an exemption abruptly would feel the wrath of the seniors who vote disproportionally in higher percentages in elections. Empty Threat!
Easy Tradeoffs
From a tradeoff stand point, it is obvious that within a few years, seniors will do BETTER if the inflation-based tax hike limit is used as a tradeoff to slowly replace the senior tax exemption. As previously posted the senior population will have an enormous advantage by avoiding the routine 11%-21.4% annual tax hikes. If their property values only went up an average of 5%/year for five years on a $300,000 home, those who are 65 and 75 year and older would STILL get a $90,000 decrease in their home values. That would occur since the tax hike would be limited to inflation at, for instance 2%/year. That would MORE than overcome the $60,000 and $80,000 tax exemption respectively.
Further, the advantage in an increased tax base by ending the senior exemption is NOT big enough to overcome the massive political risk to the school board members who would dear to end these exemptions.
The same analysis is true for those getting the standard $15,000 exemption and the disability exemption of $28,000 (just 29 people). These populations will de enormously better with the future $90,000 cut in property values than the paltry drops in the bucket currently granted by the school board.
The current $15,000 and $28,000 tax exemptions are equivalent to Marie Antoinette saying “let them eat cake” when it comes to property tax homestead exemptions.
The people want and deserve a massive feast of homestead exemptions and property tax limitations. The “Save Our Homes” exemptions are the Massive feast that will overcome the paltry crumbs thrown by the school system to the great “unwashed”. You know: the taxpayers.
In Freedom!
Come to the BARTOW County School Board Meetings
Demand that they opt in to the state law allowing homestead value to go up no higher than state inflation.
Insist that they cut spending, shrink administrative bloat and focus on education only.
Advise that you will will actively supporting a candidate against them when they run again if they choose to opt out of the homestead tax hike limitation.
MEETING TIMES (all at Bartow School System Admin building, 65 Gilreath Road, Cartersville).
Please email tanya.rucker@bartow.k12.ga.us or call 770-606-5800, Ext. 3838 and speaking to Tanya Rucker if you have questions or would like to sign up to speak before the meeting. However, at the first public meeting, it was clarified that people will NOT be required to sign up before a 15 minute deadline. But please sign up before the meeting starts.
Monday, January 27, 2025 6 pm
ALSO - please email your School Board members and let them know they should NOT opt out of the Tax hike limit passed by voters and approved by the legislators.
tony.ross@bartow.k12.ga.us; darla.williams@bartow.k12.ga.us; matt.shultz@bartow.k12.ga.us; butch.emerson@bartow.k12.ga.us; sharon.viktora@bartow.k12.ga.us
I would love to share on Facebook and Nextdoor apps. Your article explains everything so well for voters.
The more fundamental reason that the school board's threats are empty is that the school board does not have the legal authority to either create or end tax exemptions. Only legislation can do that, and only legislators have that authority. The school board can request legislative actions, but there is no requirement that any such request be acted upon.