Fayette County Board of Ed tax guidelines better for residents than HB 581

I want to clarify something that was in the article about the Peachtree City budget impasse.

The Citizen wrote “it’s worth noting that this doesn’t mean that tax bills will decrease, because the school system opted out of HB581, and their portion of our tax bills is much higher than Peachtree City’s.”

The school system currently has a school tax cap in place that is better for taxpayers than HB 581.

Voters in Fayette County voted for the property tax cap and it was implemented in 2021.

The school portion of your property taxes can only grow by 3% or the lesser of the Consumer Price Index. If inflation is at 2%, your property taxes can only increase by 2%.

But under HB 581, property taxes are capped at the rate of inflation. So if inflation is 6%, your property taxes increase 6%.

Let’s look at some real numbers, For the 2024 tax digest, the school tax cap covers 21,800 properties for $1.3 billion in exemptions equaling $25.1 million in reduced property taxes.

When you add in the Senior and Veteran exemptions, the number reaches $3.5 billion for reduced property taxes of nearly $70 million. 

I hope this letter show why the current school tax cap is better than what HB 581 offered and sheds some light on a complicated topic.

Sincerely,

Scott Hollowell

Chair, Fayette County Board of Education