Legislative action on property taxes

Yesterday was a busy day at the state capitol. Amidst a flurry of legislation being considered during the final days of the session, the Georgia General Assembly moved closer toward enacting two property tax related measures.

1. One bill would phase out of state’s share of property tax collections over the next five years. (The Senate had already passed SB 517 which would have ended the state’s portion immediately, but that bill looks moot now.)  According to the Macon Telegraph, the newly proposed five-year phase out was tacked on to a bill about license plate and poultry inspection fees (HB 1055), and was designed in part to make the state budget more palatable to lawmakers. 
2. SB 346, which would reform property valuations and appeals, was approved by the House Ways & Means Committee. The committee made several revisions including 1) improved legal wording of the bill, 2) requiring annual assessment notices but moving the notification date to July, 3) giving the option of sending assessment notices electronically if the jurisdiction is able to and the taxpayer chooses to, and 4) changing the arbitration process. Now the bill moves to the Rules Committee to be scheduled for a floor vote in the House.

My prior posts about the state’s share of property tax revenues is here and details about SB 346 are here.