The House’s property tax bill now moves to the Senate, which passed a proposal last month capping annual property tax increases. Ross Williams/Georgia Recorder
House lawmakers passed a scaled-back version of a property tax relief plan Friday after a more sweeping overhaul failed earlier in the week.
House Bill 1116, sponsored by Bonaire Republican state Rep. Shaw Blackmon, passed with a 98-68 vote as the clock wound down on a key legislative deadline day.
The gatekeeping House Rules Committee advanced a revised version of the proposal late Friday night. The 31-page bill would cap all property tax increases at 3% each year and include other changes House Republicans argue are designed to protect homeowners.
An earlier proposal would have eventually eliminated local property taxes on primary single-family homes, also known as homesteads. A version that would have significantly cut property taxes, but not eliminated them, still failed to win over the two-thirds support needed to pass a constitutional amendment. Critics said the plans would lead to higher sales tax rates or cuts to important local services.
Proponents have argued all along that an intervention was needed to stop the “unsustainable” trajectory of local property taxes.
“I doubt we would be talking about this if property taxes were not and had not been on such an unsustainable path for our property owners, and particularly our homeowners,” Blackmon said to his colleagues.
But Democrats objected to the bill, arguing the changes require a constitutional amendment. They also said the proposal risks destabilizing local governments, which rely on property taxes to pay for services like law enforcement and fund schools.
They also argued the bill was being rushed.
“This is a bad bill because we don’t know what’s in here, and we don’t understand the impact of this piece of legislation,” said Rep. Sam Park, a Lawrenceville Democrat who serves as the minority whip.
Rep. David Wilkerson, a Powder Springs Democrat, called the bill an “act of desperation.”
“People made promises they could not keep to voters,” Wilkerson told reporters Friday night.
Blackmon pushed back on claims that a constitutional amendment is required for the changes in his bill, saying no money is being taken away from local governments.
He said the constitutional amendment would have offered “real relief.” But he said the bill that passed Friday “stems the increases in future years.”
“I think that this is something that’s good for the taxpayers. It puts the right kind of restrictions in place. Thirty-six other states have a property tax revenue cap. And that, again, does not reduce any money coming into local governments. It just prevents massive increases into the future,” Blackmon said Friday night.
The bill also says revenue collected from data centers starting in 2029, which is when a current tax break for the facilities’ equipment expires, should go toward reducing homestead property taxes in Georgia.
The bill now moves to the Senate, which passed a proposal last month capping annual property tax increases. The Senate bill would prevent local governments and school districts from opting out of a statewide homestead tax exemption that voters approved in 2024. Both chambers have also passed differing income tax cut plans.
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