Atlanta and College Park voters will be asked to extend a local sales tax as part of the May 21 primary election.
Other jurisdictions will ask for approval of property tax exemptions for senior citizens and others. And a number of counties have no referendums at all this time.
The May 21 election is the general primary and nonpartisan election for 2024. The ballots will include candidates for county commission, sheriff, district attorney and some city posts, plus Georgia congressional seats and the Georgia Legislature. The nonpartisan part of the ballot will include referendums and state and local judicial elections.
Here are the referendums on the ballot across metro Atlanta.
City of Atlanta: Voters will be asked to extend a local sales tax. The Municipal Option Sales Tax, a 1-cent sales tax on goods and services within the city, has been collected since 2004 and is used by the Atlanta Department of Watershed Management. It also funds water and sewer improvement facilities required by two federal consent decrees. Learn more from the Watershed Management website.
RELATED: Atlanta voters to decide on renewal of sales tax for water, sewer repairs
Scroll down to see the exact text of the referendums mentioned in this article.
City of College Park: Voters will be asked to extend the Municipal Option Sales Tax, or MOST, a 1-cent sales tax on goods and services within the city.
Cherokee County: A referendum asks approval of a homestead exemption for some senior citizens to reduce property tax they pay for Cherokee County schools.
Gwinnett County: Two referendum questions relate to homestead exemptions to reduce property taxes paid to Gwinnett schools. One applies to senior citizens. The second applies to “public service employees.”
As defined by the Georgia Legislature in House Bill 748, the public service exemption would include police and emergency workers, such as firefighters and paramedics; schoolteachers, paraprofessionals and administrators in the Gwinnett or Buford school districts; members of the military or reserves; and some Gwinnett County hospital personnel, defined as those “employed by or holding staff privileges” at a hospital located in the county.
These counties do not have referendums on the ballot
- Clayton County: See referendum in College Park
- DeKalb County: See referendum for city of Atlanta residents.
- Douglas County
- Fayette County
- Forsyth County
- Fulton County: See referendums in cities of Atlanta, College Park
- Rockdale County
Here are the exact texts of the referendums that may appear on your metro Atlanta ballot
City of Atlanta
Credit: Fulton County Elections
Credit: Fulton County Elections
City of College Park.
Credit: Fulton County Elections
Credit: Fulton County Elections
Cherokee County
Credit: Georgia Secretary of State
Credit: Georgia Secretary of State
Gwinnett County
Credit: Georgia Secretary of State
Credit: Georgia Secretary of State
Definition of public service employees in the Gwinnett referendum. This is a section from Georgia House Bill 748 that created the proposed exemption.
Credit: Georgia Legislature
Credit: Georgia Legislature
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