Columbus council schedules public hearings on stateHouse Bill 581 floating homestead and opt-out decision

Columbus, Georgia Jan. 28 Tax assessor Suzanne Weidenhaus told the Columbus City Council on Tuesday that House Bill 581, passed statewide by referendum this fall, creates a new "floating homestead" exemption that would adjust a home's base-year assessed value up or down by an inflation index and that Muscogee County and other local taxing authorities have a one-time option to opt out of adopting the state-controlled floating homestead.

Why it matters: The council must decide whether to opt out by March 1, 2025, after holding three public hearings. Supporters of opting out told the council the county's current local homestead freeze stabilizes revenue in a downturn; supporters of staying in said some taxpayers could see lower valuations under a floating approach in certain market conditions. The choice affects property owners and municipal revenue planning.

What Weidenhaus told the council: She said the floating homestead would use a base-year fair-market value (tax year 2024 for this implementation) and then apply an inflationary or deflationary index that could raise or reduce assessments. The floating exemption would be available only when it is more beneficial to the taxpayer than the existing local freeze. She warned that the state has proposed using a national index rather than a local measure and that counties face complex implementation issues including software changes, manual reviews of many accounts, and staffing costs. Weidenhaus estimated additional custom programming work with Tyler Technologies could require about 118 hours at $175 per hour (an estimated remaining implementation cost she described as "almost $21,000") and that substantial additional personnel hours likely would be required for manual reviews in the tax assessor's office.

Council debate and context: Council members pressed a series of practical concerns. Councilor Glenn Davis and others said a downturn in property and sales tax revenues could severely strain the city's budget and force higher millage rates or expanded special districts to maintain services; those comments emphasized that Columbus relies heavily on sales-tax-driven commerce and a large transient hotel/retail base compared with some Georgia cities. City Manager Isaiah Huegley and other members noted the state law permits localities that opt out to later petition the General Assembly for a locally controlled floating homestead, but that electing to remain under the state-controlled floating homestead would be effectively permanent unless the state changes the law.

Legal opinions cited: City Attorney Clifton Faye summarized legal input saying the state law does not repeal or impair the city's existing local constitutional homestead freeze; that local freeze remains in place unless repealed by voters. The city received an outside opinion from Troutman Pepper and a concurrence from an assistant at the Georgia Attorney General's office to that effect.

Council action: The council agreed to advertise and host three public hearings to gather citizen input before making a final decision. Deputy City Manager Hodge said the city would run an ad in the Sunday paper on Feb. 2 (and in the digital paper on Feb. 3) and hold meetings at council chambers on Feb. 10 at 9 a.m., Feb. 10 at 6 p.m., and during the regular council meeting on Feb. 11 at 9 a.m. The council placed a vote on its agenda for either Feb. 11 or Feb. 25 so it could meet the secretary of state's March 1 deadline if it chooses to opt out.

Details and implementation risks: Weidenhaus and staff outlined several operational risks: (1) the law lacks a consistent acreage rule with county homesteads (the state floating exemption has no acreage cap while Muscogee County's local freeze does); (2) the floating homestead will require manual comparisons for accounts with unusual circumstances (fires, demolitions, multi-acre homesteads, split tax districts); (3) software vendors must develop custom solutions that are not yet fully scoped; and (4) the state index is set at the state level and may be changed in future legislative sessions. She said approximately 1,100 local homesteads currently have assessed values higher than fair-market value and that those parcels would be affected differently under a floating system.

Next steps: The council directed staff to run the advertised hearings and return with a report on what was heard from citizens and stakeholders before taking a formal opt-out decision. Deputy City Manager Hodge said staff and the tax assessor had prepared the ad language to clarify that the current local frozen homestead would remain unaffected by the hearings.

Ending: The council's vote to hold the hearings was unanimous among members present. The city will take public comment at the February sessions before voting whether to complete the opt-out paperwork with the state by March 1.