Forsyth County Board of Education holds public hearing on whether to opt out of state homestead cap (HB 581)

Chairman Mike Valdez called a special called meeting of the Forsyth County Board of Education on Jan. 28, 2025, to hear public comment and staff analysis on whether the district should opt out of House Bill 581, the statewide floating homestead exemption tied to inflation.

CFO Larry Hamill presented the district's analysis and recommended that the board opt out of HB 581. Hamill said HB 581's cap is tied to a consumer price index that "fluctuates drastically from year to year," that the bill has "no expiration date," and that the bill gives the Georgia Department of Revenue latitude to choose the CPI source and timing used to set the cap. Hamill contrasted HB 581 with the district's locally negotiated House Bill 717, a fixed 4% annual cap the board helped design and that is already in effect in Forsyth County through 2035.

The presentation included the district's fiscal context: the current maintenance-and-operations millage rate of 15.208 and a debt millage rate of 1.418; a senior property-tax exemption that the district described as a blanket exemption for residents 65 and older; a history of millage reductions totaling just over 3 mills across the last three years; and growth of roughly 1,200 additional students per year, which the district said drives school spending.

Hamill summarized a seven-year comparison the district's consultant produced showing volatility in past CPI figures (examples cited in the presentation included 2.1, 2.4, 1.8, 1.2, 4.7, 8.0 and 4.1 in unspecified years) and a seven-year cumulative comparison in which the statewide formula (HB 581) would have returned about $75,000,000 to homeowners while the local 4% cap (HB 717) would have returned about $76,400,000'a difference the presentation quantified as about $1.2 million in favor of the fixed cap over that period. The district said the fixed cap provides predictability for long-term budgeting; the statewide CPI approach, the district said, creates uncertainty for multi-year planning and for tax-assessor workload and could complicate cash-flow timing for payroll and operations.

Board members who spoke reiterated that the meeting was the first of three hearings required by law and that a final decision would be made Feb. 18. Valdez said that "no matter what, at the end of this process there will be a floating homestead exemption on your school taxes." The board's staff recommendation presented that evening was to opt out of HB 581 and retain the locally created HB 717 fixed 4% cap that already applies to Forsyth County Schools through 2035.

Public commenters raised questions and concerns on both sides of the issue. Resident Eric Edstrom, identifying himself as a finance professional, said he had reviewed CPI history and noted it "historically has been around 2%," and urged the board to consider that CPI data are published monthly. Resident Donald West described recent reassessments as "unsustainable" and cited examples of large year-to-year increases a homeowner could face; he also said he intended to follow the matter in later hearings. Mike Papa (Pappa), a resident who spoke from the floor, asked for clarity about which CPI would be used and recommended the district include a national-CPI comparison in its materials.

No vote on opt-out occurred at the Jan. 28 hearing. The board approved routine meeting business at the start of the session (motion to approve the agenda, moved by Grimes, seconded by Hoye; unanimous) and later voted to adjourn (motion by Hoye, second by Grimes; unanimous). The board will take additional public comment in two more hearings before the Feb. 18 final vote required to complete the Jan. 1'Mar. 1 opt-out process established in state law.

The district posted side-by-side comparison materials on its website, and staff said they would provide additional CPI-source comparisons if requested. The board urged residents to review the materials and noted that any final decision on opting out would be made by the five elected school-board members after the additional hearings.