Barrow County schools weigh re-adoption of opt-out from House Bill 581 as finance office details impacts

The Barrow County Board of Education on Oct. 28 received a financial briefing on whether the district should again opt out of House Bill 581, the statewide floating homestead exemption, as required under House Bill 92.

Finance director Miss Houston told the board that Barrow County previously opted out on Feb. 26, 2025. Under HB92, jurisdictions that previously opted out must complete a three-public-hearing process and vote again by March 1, 2027, if they wish to remain opted out. Houston said the district's decision to opt out earlier this year was made to preserve local control and to allow the board to adopt an age-based senior exemption that local voters approved in November 2024.

Houston walked the board through revenue effects and the rationale for the earlier opt-out. Property taxes account for roughly 32% of the general fund; FY25 property tax collections were $66.1 million, and the FY26 budgeted property tax figure is about $67.5 million at a 15.193 millage rate. Houston estimated the district'wide impact of the locally adopted senior exemption could grow by $4'$4.5 million over time and said 2,894 additional parcels took the new exemption in 2025.

She also provided a rough calculation of what implementing HB581 might have meant: Barrow County'reported exemptions totaling $71.3 million and the City of Winder $11.4 million, which Houston said would translate to roughly $1.258 million in lost tax revenue to the school system at the current millage — a preliminary estimate that does not include all parcels in unincorporated parts of the county or other municipalities.

Houston said because Barrow County already had a frozen homestead deduction for many parcels, the county was better positioned to opt into HB581 than some other jurisdictions. She listed the pros (reduced homeowner burden when values rise, state'level uniformity, potential construction-material sales-tax exemptions) and cons (a perpetual rule that would be hard to change and limited ability for the board to tailor exemptions for local priorities such as the senior program).

Next steps, Houston said, are to advertise and hold the required public hearings. She presented draft advertisement language required by HB92 and proposed dates for the hearings; she told the board the item to proceed with advertisements would be formally voted at the Nov. 4 meeting. Houston emphasized that a final decision to re-opt out or to accept HB581 would be taken at a later meeting after the public hearings and required filings to the secretary of state.

Authorities referenced during the presentation included House Bill 581 (state homestead exemption structure), House Bill 92 (opt-out/notice requirements), and federal/state references concerning senior-exemption administration and local millage calculations. The board did not take final action on HB581 at the Oct. 28 session; Houston said the board would act after the public-hearing sequence and required advertisement.