Property taxpayer news

The special election to fill state Senate District 42 is today. Decatur News Online has been covering the candidates’ positions including what their budget priorities would be during an era of dwindling tax revenues.

For his advocacy of SB 346, state Sen. Chip Rogers has been named legislator of the year by Georgia Property Taxpayers Committee. GaPTC also named Rep. Ed Lindsey.

In a class action securities fraud case, Countrywide has agreed to a $600 million settlement for misrepresenting the quality of its loan portfolio to investors. Until collapsing during the nationwide mortgage meltdown and being taken over by Bank of America, Countrywide was the biggest mortgage lender in America.

Proposition 13, California’s landmark 1978 measure that capped property tax assessments, and arguably inspired legislative reform proposals nationwide and in Georgia over the last several years (such as HB 233, HR1, and SB 346), is undergoing new scrutiny by lawmakers in Sacramento. Some critics have blamed property tax reforms for California’s fiscal problems.