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Newton County officials explain how HB 581’s floating homestead exemption will affect homeowners
Summary
Newton County officials said the new state law (HB 581) caps annual assessed value increases for homesteaded properties at 3 percent, but noted homeowners may still see changes on spring assessment notices and different taxable values on summer tax bills because some local taxing jurisdictions opted out.
Brian Fazio, Newton County public information officer, hosted a video briefing with county Chief Appraiser Marty Kennard and newly elected Tax Commissioner Brent Bennett to explain HB 581 and how it affects homestead property owners in Newton County.
Kennard said the law creates a “floating homestead exemption” for primary residences and described how it limits year‑to‑year valuation increases for homesteaded properties. “The 1 thing about it is it freezes or floats how much your valuation can go up annually. And it's gonna be based on the consumer price index,” Kennard said, and later noted the cap is 3 percent: “This year, there's a flood on it and caps it going up only 3 percent.”
The county officials said the law applies only to homesteaded property and that the new cap affects assessed values, not directly the tax rate. “Your tax bill is not gonna go up,” Tax Commissioner Brent Bennett said, adding that the cap on assessments does not guarantee taxes will fall: “Or not go…
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