City endorses school exemption plan

During their meeting Monday night, the City Commission unanimously approved a resolution supporting the school board’s intentions to exempt homeowners age 65 and older from school taxes. The school system is seeking support from state senators and representatives in the area to carry the proposal forward in the Georgia General Assembly during its 2016 session. Final approval would require a majority vote in a public referendum.

Currently, homeowners become exempt from school taxes in Decatur when they turn 80 if they make less than $40,000 a year. School taxes represent about 60 percent of an average tax bill. I estimate that about 1,000 property owners would qualify for an age-65 school exemption.

Notes for Veterans Day

Partial exemption from property taxes
The City of Decatur provides a homestead exemption specific to veterans with disabilities in accordance with state law.  If applicants for the disabled veteran exemption provide us with a letter indicating 100 percent disability from the Department of Veterans Affairs and file an application card with our office, the exemption can save you up to $3,000 a year on your Decatur property tax bill.  The exemption is also available to unremarried surviving spouses.  Please note that this exemption is based on the disability status of veterans, and is separate from the exemption that disability-based exemption offered by DeKalb County.

Exemption from business license fees
Veterans discharged under honorable conditions from the U.S. military who have at least a 10 percent disability from wartime or a 25 percent service-connected disability from peacetime whose income is exempt from state taxation are also eligible for exemption from occupation taxes. In other words, you do not have to pay for a business license in Decatur if you meet those criteria. If you own a business in Decatur and qualify for this occupation tax exemption, please contact my office at 404-370-4100 so we can adjust your account.

Veterans Day in Decatur
A remembrance service honoring those who served in the military who are buried in the Decatur Cemetery will take place onsite tomorrow at 11 a.m.

Decatur City Hall will be open for business on November 11. Decatur schools, the post office, local banks, and DeKalb County offices will be closed.

Campaigning for a property tax exemption

In what’s turning out to be a political hot topic leading up to the statewide elections this fall, another prominent politician has endorsed the restoration of the Homeowner Tax Relief Grant (HTRG). The HTRG was an exemption that Georgia homeowners received in addition to the basic homestead exemption. In Decatur the HTRG had reduced annual property taxes by about $250.  The HTRG was basically eliminated by the Georgia General Assembly in 2009 until the economy rebounds.

Wayne Hill, who served as chairman of the Gwinnett County board of commissioners for years and was integral in developing the Republican Party in Gwinnett, is seeking nomination to run for state representative in the Sugar Hill area (District 98). Hill told the League of Women Voters, “I would like to reinstate the State credit on property taxes for all citizens of Georgia.”

Former governor and Democratic candidate for governor Roy Barnes has made similar statements. In radio ads, Barnes has said defunding the HTRG was “not right and it's not fair and when I'm Governor, it won't stand.”

If more and more candidates from both sides of the aisle continue running on this platform, it’s possible that we could see legislation during the 2011 session to amend the HB 143, the 2009 act that limited the circumstances under which the tax credit could be funded.

Barnes scolds loss of HTRG

In 2009 the Georgia General Assembly passed HB 143, which allowed for the funding of the Homeowner Tax Relief Grant for 2008 (which lowered the most Decatur homeowners’ tax bills by $252) but denied funding for 2009. Locally, this resulted in an effective tax increase of $252, although the Decatur City Commission simultaneously increased a low income, senior exemption which reduced taxes by $230 for qualified homeowners. HB 143 left the door open for funding the exemption in future years if state revenues increase 3 percent above inflation.

Former governor and gubernatorial candidate Roy Barnes has come out with an ad criticizing the legislature and the current governor for not funding the HTRG saying:

As Governor, we increased the homestead exemption to give everyone a property tax break. But the politicians under the gold dome took away our tax cut. So our taxes went up but the taxes of the special interest went down. That's not right and it's not fair and when I'm Governor, it won't stand.

Morris News Service reports that the ad is running in Savannah, Macon, Augusta, and Albany.

Readers write: exemptions questions

In response to my “Where is my exemption?” post, reader John Rose asked the following questions:

A few questions for you about exemptions, Russ:

1) Which of the eight exemptions listed on the city website are actually city laws (vs. state laws)?

2) How many people on average take advantage of each of those exemptions?

3) How much of an impact do each of those exemptions have on the city's tax revenues?

Good questions!

First, the Homestead Tax Relief Grant (HTRG), the exemption for residents over 62 with income less than $10,000 (S-1), and the exemption for disabled veterans come from general legislation that is applicable statewide. Currently the HTRG is not being funded by the state, so there are really only seven “active” exemptions.

The Georgia General Assembly passed local legislation which allowed for referendums and approval by a majority of Decatur voters for each of the other five exemptions: the basic homestead exemption (GH-1), the exemption for being age 65 or older (GH2), the exemption for being older than 62 with an income of less than $30,000 (GS-1), the exemption for being over 80 with less than 40,000 in income (S-2), and the exemption for residents over 70 (S-3).

To answer your other questions, this chart shows a very rough estimate of how many property owners benefit from these exemptions and approximately how much each exemption reduces tax bills by over the course of a year:

Of course those numbers fluctuate depending on the digest value, who’s aging and applying for additional exemptions, who’s moving out, and changes in the millage rates. There are also tax exempt properties like churches and homeowners who are on “year support” or deferment. Altogether, taxes are reduced by about $2½ million a year because of these exemptions (which includes the city and the school system taxes). More details on who’s eligible for these exemptions and how they’re calculated is available here.

I hope those answers help, and keep’m coming!

Reminder: homestead exemption deadline nears

The deadline to file for a homestead exemption with the City of Decatur is Monday, March 1. If you applied in a prior year, you do not need to file again. But if you’ve never applied, or if you’ve only applied with DeKalb County, you need to apply with the City. If you miss the Monday deadline, you won’t be able to receive the homestead exemption until 2011.

You can apply for the basic homestead exemption through our online form here.

For more details about homestead exemptions, see our main webpage or look over my recent post on the subject.

The exemptions you deserve

Now is the time to make sure you receive all the homestead exemptions that you’re eligible for for 2010. If you know you already receive your homestead exemption, great—even though it’s Groundhog’s Day tomorrow, you don’t have to apply for the homestead exemption over and over and over again. Just applying once after you moved into your house will do.

If you’re not sure whether you have a homestead exemption, check this spot of your last tax bill. You will see the $20,000 figure listed for the Capital, General, and DDA lines.

If you don’t have your last bill, you can call us at 404-370-4100 or email us to double-check.

If you don’t have the homestead exemption but you’re eligible for it, now is a great time to file your application. All you need to do is fill out this easy online form.

Remember that you have to apply for your homestead exemption for the City of Decatur and DeKalb County separately. Applying for one does not transfer over to the other.

If you’ve become eligible for an additional exemption based on age or income, this is the perfect time of year to get your paperwork in order. If you’re applying for an exemption based on age or income, we will need your: