Marietta holds public hearing on HB 581; staff recommends opting out to keep local homestead freeze

Interim Finance Director Bettina Brown walked the council and the public through the state law and how it compares with Marietta’s current homestead exemption policy.

Brown said HB 581, signed April 18, 2024 and contingent on a November 2024 referendum, "incorporates 3 new tax provisions" and includes "the implementation of the statewide floating homestead exemption," which she said "is gonna apply starting in 2025. ... It'll include an adjustment factor, and the adjustment factor allows the assessment of homestead properties to rise annually by the rate of inflation." Brown emphasized the difference between the state approach and Marietta's existing practice: "the homestead exemption that was established 23 years ago does not include an adjustment factor. So this is where I mean about a freeze. The inflation rate, unlike HB 581, is not included in Marietta's, floating homestead." (Interim Finance Director Bettina Brown.)

Why it matters: Brown and other staff told the council that Marietta’s local policy — a freeze of the taxable base year value for owner‑occupied homesteads so long as ownership does not change — is, in many cases, more favorable to long‑term homestead owners than the state’s CPI‑linked floating…