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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 down for that matter. I don't wanna say 1 way or the other. But it's not necessarily gonna stay the same.”
Why it matters: HB 581 changes where and how taxable values are calculated and reported. Kennard and Bennett said homeowners will see those changes first on the county’s spring assessment notices and later on tax bills issued in the summer, after local taxing jurisdictions set millage rates.
Key points officials emphasized
- Who does what: Kennard’s office (assessor’s office) prepares valuations and mails annual assessment notices; Bennett’s office (tax commissioner) uses those values and the millage rates set by taxing jurisdictions to compute and mail tax bills.
- Assessment notices: Newton County will mail annual assessment notices in the spring. Notices list the previous year’s value and the new current year value; homeowners have 45 days from the notice date to file an appeal.
- Homestead application deadline: The county reiterated that April 1 is the deadline to ensure a homestead exemption is applied for that tax year, although offices will accept applications year‑round.
- Different taxable values by jurisdiction: Because HB 581 allows local taxing jurisdictions to opt in or opt out of the floating homestead exemption, taxable values can differ by levying authority. Officials said the Newton County Board of Education (which they described as about 60% of a typical county tax bill) opted out, while the county government opted in. The result is that taxable values used for the school portion of a tax bill may be calculated at market value while the county portion uses the homestead‑capped value.
- Rollback/estimated rates removed from notices: County staff said assessment notices will no longer include an “estimated taxes due” figure based on prior year millage rates; instead the notice will show an estimated rollback rate. Final tax bills and the actual millage rates will be set and published later in budget season.
Officials urged homeowners to review assessment notices closely (check square footage, bedroom/bath counts and ownership), to confirm whether a homestead exemption already exists on a property, and to use the county’s online portal to file appeals if the homeowner believes the assessed value is too high.
Officials also explained a related provision: HB 581 included a local option sales tax mechanism (referred to in the briefing as FLOS) intended to offset revenue losses from the homestead exemption, but county staff said that mechanism required all municipalities in the county to remain in the program; because two local jurisdictions opted out, the county said the FLOS option is no longer available locally.
Kennard, Bennett and Fazio said the law is complex and that the county will publish more educational materials and videos ahead of tax‑bill season. They encouraged residents to watch budget and millage hearings (which the county streams) and to consult Newton County’s government web pages for updated FAQs and guidance.
