Villa Rica holds second public hearing on Georgia’s HB 581 floating homestead exemption and possible local sales tax offset

Villa Rica City Council held the second of three public hearings on House Bill 581, the statewide floating homestead exemption, explaining how the law could limit annual taxable-value increases for homeowners and outlining a possible local sales-tax option to offset lost property-tax revenue.

The hearing matters because HB 581, passed by the Georgia General Assembly and approved statewide by referendum in November 2024, takes effect Jan. 1, 2025; local governments must complete any decision to opt out of the statewide exemption by March 1, 2025, and must hold three advertised public hearings before adopting an opt-out resolution.

City staff explained that HB 581 sets a floating homestead exemption so a homestead’s taxable value may rise only at a rate of inflation (the state revenue commissioner will set the figure; the presentation used the Consumer Price Index as an example). The law applies to maintenance-and-operations (M&O) property tax and to special service…