The Georgia session ended on March 28. Two thousand bills were introduced, and a record 725 passed. Many of these bills targeted certain cities and schools and were irrelevant to the State. We passed a budget that contained raises for employees. Our K-12 teachers-who already have the highest average pay in the south – increased by $2,500. We continue to support our education system and retain quality teachers. We also had funding for Northwestern Technical College and Georgia Highlands for new facilities. The funding for Georgia Highlands will result in a new medical building that will let us triple our number of dental hygienists and double our number of nursing students. Nurses are sorely needed right now.
We also reduced our income tax rate again. This bill (which I sponsored several years ago) is slowly bringing the rate down. It was scheduled to be reduced from 5.75% to 5.49%. The governor agreed to reduce it to 5.39%. Eventually, it will be down to 4.99%. We continue to try to fund the state, build infrastructure, have a healthy rainy day fund balance, and reduce the taxes on our citizens.
Even though the state does not collect any property taxes, it has been the item that I have heard the most about over the last two years. The increased taxes due to property values rising are of particular concern. We passed a bill that I sponsored in the Senate that will limit these increases in the future to about 3% a year. Some assessments have increased by 20 to 40%, but the millage rate statewide has not been reduced. This will no longer be allowed if the voters approve it on a constitutional amendment that will be on the ballot in November. I believe it will pass by 90%. Even more important is that the legislature will not take it away in the future without going to a constitutional amendment, which I do not believe the voters will pass. It also will allow the locals to have an additional penny local option sales tax that can be used for only one thing—to reduce property taxes. If this passes, I have calculated that Floyd County government taxes will be reduced by 41% and Rome City government taxes will be reduced by 82%. This will be, by far, the largest reduction in property taxes in Georgia’s history. So not only will there be a cap on future tax increases through assessments, but by next year, there should be significant reductions in the amount of property taxes we all pay.
While the Governor will decide which bills to approve over the next 30 days, I do not doubt that these will be signed. Hopefully, we can discuss a few of the other significant bills in the future.
Thank you for letting me represent this area in the Georgia State Senate. It is a great time to be in Georgia, and I appreciate being part of the process of seeing good things happen for all of our district.
