Madison County holds public hearing on HB 581 floating homestead exemption

Madison County held a special public hearing Tuesday evening on House Bill 581, the statewide “floating homestead” exemption, during which county staff outlined what the law would do, how the county could opt out and the likely effects on county revenue and taxpayers.

The hearing featured a presentation by Gary Capalier, identified by the meeting chair as the presenter on the topic, followed by questions and public comment from residents and responses from county commissioners. The county repeatedly warned that the law as written leaves several implementation details to the state and that opting in would be effectively permanent for the county unless local officials create a separate, local version.

The issue matters because HB 581 would cap increases in assessed values for homestead properties — effectively “freezing” most homestead assessment increases to the consumer price index (CPI) or other state-determined limits — while other property types (commercial, industrial, non‑homestead residential) would remain liable for market-value increases. County staff and residents said that would shift revenue from homesteaded parcels to other taxpayers, and that local taxing authorities would need to raise millage rates to recoup revenue.

Capalier said HB 581 is “in addition to all the current global exemptions” and would not replace existing local exemptions (for example, senior exemptions already on the books). He told the hearing the bill removes the estimated tax bill from the annual assessment notice and instead adds an estimated millage rollback rate on the notice, because millage rates are not set when assessment notices go out. He also described several other changes in the…