Modified versions of two tax bills that would provide some relief for homeowners who pay Atlanta school taxes cleared the Georgia Senate on Wednesday.
SB 486 grants senior citizens a maximum homestead exemption for school taxes of $100,000 of the property's assessed value, but new language caps the total exemptions granted at $10 million annually. If the total amount claimed exceeds that, then eligible seniors' exemptions would be reduced on a proportionate basis.
SB 485 would increase the basic maximum homestead exemption for school taxes from $30,000 to $50,000, but a new change would make the first $10,000 subject to assessment.
“This kind of makes us all investors in the school, in APS…; we want to make sure that we are all contributing,” said the bills’ sponsor Sen. Jen Jordan, D-Atlanta, who added that the changes were made through consultation with APS so that the district “could meet its budgetary requirements.”
Fulton County officials expressed concern about some of the language in the bills at a Wednesday meeting. If approved by legislators, the two proposals also would need approval from voters in November. APS officials did not provide comment by deadline.
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