HB 540: Gwinnett County; ad valorem tax for educational purposes; expand additional homestead exemption to certain veterans and employees

House Bill 540 (AS PASSED HOUSE AND SENATE)

By: Representatives Reeves of the 99th, Martinez of the 111th, Efstration of the 104th, Clark of the 108th, Adeyina of the 110th, and others

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

AN ACT

To amend an Act to provide an additional homestead exemption from Gwinnett County school district ad valorem taxes for educational purposes in the amount of $2,000.00 of the assessed value of the homestead for residents of that school district who are certain public service employees, approved May 3, 2023 (Ga. L. 2023, p. 4346), so as to expand such exemption to disabled veterans and all employees of the Gwinnett County School District and the Buford City School District; to provide for compliance with constitutional requirements; to provide for a referendum, effective dates, and automatic repeal; to provide for mandatory execution of election and judicial remedies regarding failure to comply; to provide for related matters; to repeal conflicting laws; and for other purposes.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF GEORGIA:

SECTION 1.

An Act to provide an additional homestead exemption from Gwinnett County school district ad valorem taxes for educational purposes in the amount of $2,000.00 of the assessed value of the homestead for residents of that school district who are certain public service employees, approved May 3, 2023 (Ga. L. 2023, p. 4346), is amended by revising paragraph (3) of subsection (a) of Section 1 as follows:

"(3) 'Public service employee' means a person who is, on or before January 1 of the year in which application for the exemption under subsection (b) of this section is made, a:

(A) Firefighter, paramedic, certified peace officer, or other law enforcement officer employed by the government of the United States or any department, agency, authority, or bureau thereof or by the State of Georgia or any county, municipality, special district, county or independent school system, or other political subdivision thereof;

(B) Person employed by the Gwinnett County School District or Buford City School District;

(C) Person employed by or holding staff privileges at a hospital located within Gwinnett County;

(D) Member of the armed forces of the United States, including any reserve or National Guard components and the United States Coast Guard; or

(E) Disabled veteran as defined by Code Section 48-5-48 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated."

SECTION 2.

In accordance with the requirements of Article VII, Section II of the Constitution of the State of Georgia, this Act shall not become law unless it receives the requisite two-thirds' majority vote in both the Senate and the House of Representatives.

SECTION 3.

The election superintendent of Gwinnett County shall call and conduct an election as provided in this section for the purpose of submitting this Act to the electors of the Gwinnett County school district for approval or rejection. The election superintendent shall conduct that election on the date of the general primary in 2026 and shall issue the call and conduct such election as provided by general law. The election superintendent shall cause the date and purpose of the election to be published once a week for two weeks immediately preceding the date thereof in the official organ of Gwinnett County. The ballot shall have written or printed thereon the words:

"( ) YES Shall the existing additional $2,000.00 homestead exemption from Gwinnett ( ) NO County School District ad valorem taxes for education purposes for certain public service employees be expanded to also apply to disabled veterans and all employees of the Gwinnett County School District and the Buford City School District?"

All persons desiring to vote for approval of the Act shall vote "Yes," and all persons desiring to vote for rejection of the Act shall vote "No." If more than one-half of the votes cast on such question are for approval of the Act, Section 1 of this Act shall become of full force and effect on January 1, 2027. If the Act is not so approved or if the election is not conducted as provided in this section, Section 1 of this Act shall not become effective, and this Act shall be automatically repealed on the 365th calendar day following the election date provided for in this section. The expense of such election shall be borne by Gwinnett County. It shall be the election superintendent's duty to certify the result thereof to the Secretary of State. The provisions of this section shall be mandatory upon the election superintendent and are not intended as directory. If the election superintendent fails or refuses to comply with this section, any elector of the Gwinnett County school district may apply for a writ of mandamus to compel the election superintendent to perform his or her duties under this section. If the court finds that the election superintendent has not complied with this section, the court shall fashion appropriate relief requiring the election superintendent to call and conduct such election on the date required by this section or on the next date authorized for special elections provided for in Code Section 21-2-540 of the O.C.G.A.

SECTION 4.

Except as otherwise provided in Section 3 of this Act, this Act shall become effective upon its approval by the Governor or upon its becoming law without such approval.

SECTION 5.

All laws and parts of laws in conflict with this Act are repealed.