Forsyth school board holds public hearing on whether to opt out of state’s HB 581 homestead cap

The Forsyth County Board of Education heard public comment Wednesday on whether to use a one‑time opt‑out from House Bill 581 and keep the district’s locally drafted 4% floating homestead cap under House Bill 717.

Chairman Mike Valdez, the Forsyth County Board of Education chairman, opened the hearing by saying, “The matter before the board is the decision whether to opt out or not from house bill 581.” Valdez and district staff presented comparisons between the locally crafted 4% cap (HB 717) and the statewide option created by HB 581, and recommended that the board opt out of HB 581.

The recommendation to opt out rests on staff concerns about how HB 581 ties the cap to a consumer price index (CPI) measure that the Georgia Department of Revenue would select each year. Larry Hamill, the district chief financial officer, told the board, “We don't know where they're gonna get the CPI number. We don't know what the source is.” Hamill and other presenters warned that that uncertainty could make multi‑year budgeting difficult for a district that has added roughly 1,200 students a year over the past decade and faces capital needs tied to enrollment growth.

Nut graf: The hearing focused on predictability versus statewide uniformity. Forsyth’s locally negotiated HB 717 imposes a fixed 4% cap on reassessments for school taxes and expires in 2035; HB 581…