HR1114: HR1114 Homeowner's Incentive Adjustment clause; remove cap on benefits - CA

Georgia homes are currently taxed on 40% of their appraised value. This resolution proposes a constitutional amendment that would gradually lower that percentage to 10% over ten years, cutting it by 3 percentage points a year starting in tax year 2027. Local governments could choose to phase in the reduction faster. The amendment also creates a new 100% property tax exemption for 100% disabled veterans building, inheriting, or buying a primary residence, and lets the General Assembly set up local grant programs and homeowner incentive adjustments funded partly by dedicated tax revenue, such as sales tax collected on data centers. The resolution also rewrites rules for local school sales taxes, capping the combined rate of certain school sales taxes at 2%, and allows some existing local constitutional sales taxes to convert into taxes authorized under general law. It creates a brand-new local homestead option sales tax, up to 2% for schools and 1% for other local governments, that communities could adopt to replace revenue lost from the lower home assessments. If approved by the General Assembly, the amendment would go before Georgia voters for ratification.

• Phases in a reduction of the taxable assessed value of homestead properties from 40% of appraised value to 10%, in 3% annual increments starting in tax year 2027.
• Creates a new 100% disabled veterans' homestead exemption covering the full assessed value of a primary residence for veterans who are 100% disabled.
• Lets the General Assembly authorize local governments and school systems to create their own homeowner incentive adjustment and grant programs funded by local tax dollars.
• Allows dedicating specific tax revenue, including sales tax collected from high-technology data centers, to fund state and local homeowner tax relief grants.
• Caps the combined rate of certain local school sales and use taxes at 2% and allows some existing local constitutional education sales taxes to convert into taxes governed by general state law.
• Creates a new local homestead option sales tax, up to 2% for school systems and 1% for other local governments, to offset property tax revenue lost from the reduced home assessments.

Georgia homeowners with a homestead exemption, disabled veterans seeking a new full-value exemption, county and municipal governments, consolidated governments, and local school boards, all of which would see changes to how much property tax revenue they collect and how they can raise replacement funds through new sales taxes.

If ratified, most Georgia homeowners would eventually pay property taxes on a much smaller share of their home's value, lowering their tax bills, while local governments and school districts would lose significant revenue and would need new sales taxes or state grants to make up the difference.

• Section 1 amends Article VII, Section I, Paragraph III to phase down the taxable assessed value of homestead property from 40% to 10% of appraised value by 3% a year starting in 2027, with local governments allowed to move faster.
• Section 2 adds a new constitutional paragraph creating a 100% homestead exemption for 100% disabled veterans building, inheriting, or buying a primary residence.
• Section 3 revises the Homeowner's Incentive Adjustment clause, keeping a stated benefit cap of up to $18,000 of assessed value or the taxpayer's tax liability, whichever is lower, and lets the state fund grants to local governments for lost revenue.
• Section 4 revises local school sales tax rules, capping the combined education sales tax rate at 2% and allowing conversion of certain existing local constitutional education sales taxes into taxes authorized by general law.
• Section 5 creates a new local homestead option sales tax (up to 2% for schools, 1% for other local governments) that communities can adopt to offset revenue lost from reduced homestead assessments, with a possible referendum requirement for renewals after January 1, 2037.
• Section 6 sets the ballot language voters would see, asking whether to approve the reduced assessment percentage, the new veterans' exemption, and the local homestead option sales tax.

1. 2026-03-04House Reconsidered (House)
2. 2026-03-03House Notice to Reconsider (House)
3. 2026-03-03House Third Reading Lost (House)
4. 2026-03-03House Third Readers (House)
5. 2026-03-03House Committee Favorably Reported By Substitute (House)
6. 2026-03-03House Withdrawn, Recommitted (House)
7. 2026-02-24House Committee Favorably Reported By Substitute (House)
8. 2026-02-02House Second Readers (House)

• Shaw Blackmon (R, HD-146)Primary sponsor
• Jon Burns (R, HD-159)
• Chuck Efstration (R, HD-104)
• James Hatchett (R, HD-155)
• Charles Cannon (R, HD-172)
• Charles Martin (R, HD-049)

1. PassedHouse voteMarch 3, 2026

   99 yea, 73 nay (1 not voting, 4 absent)

   Adopt: House Vote #590

2. PassedHouse voteMarch 4, 2026

   97 yea, 68 nay (10 not voting, 2 absent)

   Reconsider: House Vote #602

• property taxes
• homestead exemption
• disabled veterans benefits
• local sales taxes
• constitutional amendment