The Hall County government held its third and final public hearing to opt-out of the statewide homestead exemption at Thursday's meeting.
The commission approved the opt-out 4-1.
Commissioner for District 3 Gregg Poole was the lone “no” vote, citing concerns as to whether or not the county can ever opt back in if the statewide exemption becomes more advantageous than the local exemption.
As a refresher, the statewide exemption will set properties back to their 2024 values and adjust based on the consumer price index (CPI) annually. The local exemption will set properties back to 2023 values and increase based on assessed values capped at a 3-percent increase.
County Administrator Zach Propes cited a new piece of legislation, state house bill 92, that would require annual opt-out hearings and votes for counties that choose to do so that is going to the senate.
“In that bill currently, it has language that requires any jurisdiction that opted out, they shall be required to opt-out on an annual basis,” Propes said.
Propes added that the language does not mention anything about opting back in.
Poole also said he would rather have the ability to vote on it annually.
Propes said the Association County Commissioners of Georgia (ACCG) is pushing to change the language of the bill so that annual opt-outs do not have to occur.
“I don’t want them to push it, I want them to push that vote on us locally,” Poole said.
Propes also added that the Hall County School District (HCSD) has not made a decision yet on the statewide exemption.
No residents spoke on the item and the county will now submit the resolution to opt-out to the Secretary of State’s office.
