Newton County schedules public hearings on HB 581 homestead exemption after revenue briefing

Newton County commissioners on Jan. 16 agreed to schedule three public hearings on House Bill 581, the new Georgia law that creates a statewide floating homestead exemption unless local taxing jurisdictions opt out.

Attorney Aaron Myers, of the law firm Gerard and Davis, told commissioners the law gives each taxing jurisdiction — counties, cities and school boards — the individual choice to opt out, but warned the decision carries long-term budget trade-offs. “I think it would serve everyone's interest to go ahead and conduct the 3 public hearings,” Myers said, adding that hearings would help residents understand how the change could unfold over 5–10 years.

The briefings focused on two linked features of HB 581: the floating homestead exemption, which effectively freezes a homestead's taxable value with a cap on annual increases, and an optional floating local option sales tax (FLOST) that jurisdictions could use to replace lost property-tax revenue if all local taxing…