Comité Ways & Means de la Cámara de Representantes, 25 de febrero de 2026 (parte 2)

Transcripción

91 turnos. Seleccione un tiempo para reproducir ese momento del video.

1. 0:05:00

   Well, we're missing a few members. I guess as they file in, we'll try to get started. This may take a few minutes anyway, but we'll go ahead and call the Ways and Means full committee meeting to order. Um, Doc Newton, would you mind opening this up in a word of prayer, sir, please?

2. 0:05:17

   Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Pray with me.

3. 0:05:19

   Call to order.

4. 0:05:19

   Yes. Uh, Lord, thank You for this day. Thank You for the opportunity to serve, the, the responsibility that comes with it to do justice and to consider our, our, our fellow Georgians. Help us to do that with Your wisdom and not ours alone. Bless this time today. In Jesus' name, amen.

5. 0:05:34

   Amen. Um, I'm gonna turn the meeting over to Vice Chairman Kelley. Um, as we look over HB 1116, I think the LC number is... Well, I'll, I can let you know when I get over there.

6. 0:05:52

   Doc's praying.

7. 0:06:13

   All right. Chairman Blackmon is here to present a substitute to House Bill 1116. Mr. Chairman, will you, uh, give us the LC number that we're working off of?

8. 0:06:27

   Yes, sir. Uh, Chairman Kelley, it's LC339886S.

9. 0:06:34

   Okay. Chairman Blackmon, present the bill.

10. 0:06:38

    Thank you. I know we've been through several iterations of, uh, the HOME Act, and, and you heard us talk a little bit about, uh, the unsustainability of property tax as we've seen growth in assessments and, uh, people's property tax over the last several years. And we've had a, a number of conversations, ongoing conversations, with our, our locals on a number of fronts and, and with our taxpayers. And, um, so we've had three subcommittee hearings here.

11. 0:07:12

    I will try to go through this as quickly as possible and get to all the questions that, that may be out there. Um, but if you'll start with me on page three, part two. Um, we have a little bit of bond language to begin with that our bond attorney asked us to include based on some exemptions later, but that section is primarily devoted to the homestead exemption. Um, and so what the HOME Act basically does is it takes the homestead exemption, currently the statewide is $2,000.

12. 0:07:48

    This moves it in, uh, 2027 for two years to $10,000, and then two years later in '29 to $30,000, and in, uh, 2031 to $60,000. So if you multiply each of those by two and a half, you are, you are going from 25 to 75 to 150,000. And then in 2032, the full value of the homestead, so 100% homestead exemption, um, based on what the CA calls for as well.

13. 0:08:20

    I will draw a little bit of attention in that first paragraph. It is after the first year, so you would go in and you would submit your, your homestead exemption, uh, upon purchase. You would pay one year of, of property tax, and then you would be exempt from that point forward, um, later on. There's also, uh, a provision, um, that would allow, later on in the paragraph, that would allow, um, certain areas to offset this through a grant established that would be in the amount equivalent, no less than one per- uh, one-tenth of 1% of, uh, state sales tax penny.

14. 0:09:00

    So, um, if you move on to section three, section three talks about the, uh, sales tax with regard to 3% for, for our cities and counties to offset with two pennies for our schools. As you, uh, as you move through, it talks about the repurposing of existing, uh, sales tax. We do that with, uh, the eligibility on that is with FLOST and with LOST.

15. 0:09:31

    And then we get into how these things, uh, these sales tax can be applied in increments of .05. That's on page 11. If you look at part four, first dealing with FLOST, and then in, in part 4A, that's dealing with LOST on page 13.

16. 0:09:55

    Moving over to page 15, this is part five. This is the new local homestead option sales tax, which is designed to offset, uh, homestead property tax. They may use, um, up to a full penny, uh, a- and any number of pennies to roll back homestead property tax, and that is eligible, uh, in tax year 2027. So that is what the mechanism that would be used

17. 0:10:26

    to replace, uh, for, for some that chose to use it for homestead property tax. On part six,

18. 0:10:38

    the, um, the conversation begins on, uh, the assessments. That is the other bucket that may be used with regard to, um, revenue for, uh, the s- cities and counties and schools. You can use, uh, capital improvements for special assessments regarding, um, with a referendum for our schools, our cities, and our counties. You can use, uh, critical services or essential services for our cities and counties through a local act.

19. 0:11:19

    And if you look starting on page 31, that's part, let's see, part seven. Then you get into how, how we, um, put a little bit of some guardrails on, uh, revenues for non-homestead, being that we're exempting homestead property taxes. Um, mentions that it is either 3% or CPI, whichever is greater for that given year. There's, there's some exemptions for, uh, bonded indebtedness and for emergencies.

20. 0:11:56

    That's

21. 0:11:59

    section seven, and I believe it runs all the way through

22. 0:12:06

    to section eight. And then section eight would pick up

23. 0:12:13

    for our schools the amount that we would ig- ig- uh, add to the digest for their exemptions. So they would qualify regarding local fair share and equalization formulas, uh, based on the changes in that section. Finally, you see, uh, in 82, it sets up a study committee regarding the, uh, funding formula for, um, our schools that I know has been looked at over the years, but we are, are still being asked to maybe address some things.

24. 0:12:48

    Chairman Erwin and Chairman, uh, Dubnik have, have both looked at that language and, uh, feel like that, that is a, a, an appropriate study for us to undertake. And then in section 83, 84, and 85, we, uh, we talk a little bit about how if somebody is to... how, what kind of, of duty they have regarding their homestead exemption. So it's the duty to, of them to let the government tax commissioner know if they become ineligible.

25. 0:13:18

    And then in section 84, it is what kind of penalty if they fail to do so and they no longer qualify. And then section 85, it sets up a database from which we can, uh, we can review that. And so when people move from county to county, that would be a statewide database. So again, I think looking at this, what we have seen regarding property tax oftentimes is confusing for our taxpayer. They, uh, they, they get a bill at the end of the year. The assessors say that, "Well, we're basing this off of market value.

26. 0:13:53

    You need to talk to the millage setters." And then when you talk to the millage setters, they say, "Go look at what the assessors are ra- they're raising the, the market value, so you have an increased assessment rate." And you kind of get caught in the middle as the taxpayer. And, um, this, this sets up some more accountability and trans, uh, transparency with regard to the way those services are billed out. Potentially, it allows the homestead to go to a full 100% homestead exemption for our homeowners, um, and our ta- taxpayers, I should say.

27. 0:14:29

    And, um, then it, it puts some, some governors and, and caps on non-homestead property tax. So if you, if you look at the, the overall tax burden that we've seen over the last few years, this would, would, would help reimagine how local governments can operate. And again, we have, have worked very closely with those folks in a, in a v- very collaborative way and, um, have worked to try to add some things in even at the last minute here that would, that, that they have asked for.

28. 0:15:00

    So be happy to try to answer any questions, Mr. Chairman, if I can.

29. 0:15:06

    Thank you, Chairman Blackmon. I know that you have spent a lot of time listening to a lot of interested parties. I appreciate, uh, and I know the taxpayers around our state appreciate the work that you've put in, uh, the countless hours and the conversations you've had trying to balance all these, all these needs. Uh, so appreciate the work you've, you've done to get us here. Uh, looks like we have a question-

30. 0:15:30

    Thank you

31. 0:15:31

    ... from someone who understands a little bit about local government funding. Representative Cannon.

32. 0:15:36

    Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Um, Mr. Chairman, is it not true, we've had a lot of discussions about process by which you have to backfill the homestead portion of property tax from both the county, city, and the school side. Uh, and then is it not true that because this thing can be phased out, you don't have to backfill that full amount in year one? You can do it over a, a, a five-year history of time to basically have time to backfill that amount over those five years. Is that not true?

33. 0:16:06

    That, that, that is correct. It's, it's just not an immediate shift. It, it gives a runway for local governments to, to adopt whatever, you know, pathway they choose. For instance, I mean, I think, you know, we've asked and, and we've seen Columbia County, they have some economic development, and they think they could not only eliminate homestead property tax, but their entire property tax, uh, based on one, one piece of economic development. So I think a lot of this conversation has been what tools can we provide for those local governments that want to do this, that want to do it now, and they don't have the tools available to them to do this?

34. 0:16:40

    Isn't that true in your particular county, if we were to enable this LHOST, that y'all are able to do this rather quickly? I hate to-

35. 0:16:47

    Correct

36. 0:16:47

    ... question with a question, but-

37. 0:16:49

    Yeah. That is true, Mr. Chairman.

38. 0:16:59

    Chairman Dickey. Uh, thank you. Uh, thank you, Chairman. Um, and, and this is a lot, a lot in this bill. I got one to d- get into the weeds. Um, line 762 is that if a person fails to pay, um, an assessment by the year that it's assessed, I'm thinking some type of fire fee or garbage, then it's the next year they don't get the homestead.

39. 0:17:34

    That, that could be pretty punitive, people being a m- a little late or forgetting or some kind of, uh, oversight and not pay that fee. Uh, it could be five, 10 times, uh, what the fee is by losing a homestead next year. That's something we might wanna consider, uh, in the f- um, just- That's a good point. Will- ... that just, that just caught my eye ... duly noted. Yes, sir. Duly, good, duly noted. Good point.

40. 0:18:04

    I think, think, think we have been asked to have some level of enforceability and, um, you know, there, there's, there's due process. This is one option available to local governments that they've asked for. But yes, sir, good point. Fair point. Yeah, you would need some sort of regr- I, I get it, but that, that doesn't really give, uh- Yes, sir, Mr. Chairman ... time. Thank you. Point taken.

41. 0:18:32

    Uh, Mr. Chairman, it looks like you've, you've done a pretty good job. It looks like, uh, we're about to move on it. Well, hang on a minute. Got one question coming in from Representative Smith. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Um, Mr. Chairman, isn't it true, uh, I'm trying to think back, this is my 25th session off and on, and we've, uh, I think we've all tried to work together with different groups. I know I used to be a county commissioner and that, and we've worked together with that association and GMA and, and all. And, uh, the same people that vote for us vote for local officials.

42. 0:19:07

    So I, I just think we can, we can make this, make this work. Everybody's gonna have to give a little bit. I know you've changed the bill I don't know how many times. I mean, you've listened to people. You've personally talked to some of my local officials. So I think that's the way you get the good legislation, and that's what you've done and, and other members of the committee. So, uh, I appreciate it. I think we've got a plan, um, and I hope we can stick to this plan and, and, and take this thing forward because I think you've, you've altered it several times, another substitute, and, uh, we've got to give those taxpayers some relief.

43. 0:19:47

    I mean, we're all taxpayers, and I got people at home. I, I represent Harris, part of Muskogee, part of Troup. Um, they're looking for us to, to help them, and we c- we can't keep waiting. We've got to do it. So is it all that true? Thank you. Well, I, I, I think we have seen over time, I mean, in my, my tenure here, we, you know, we have seen, uh, certain exemptions and deductions and credits go from, you know, income taxpayers to businesses to, you know, just about everything, and I think it's, you know, it's time we did something for the taxpayer.

44. 0:20:23

    And again, I, I think that again, we're not, we're not, we're not talking about, you know, uh, this being any other issue than a, than a Georgia issue. I mean, I heard that mentioned again today. I mean, we're, we're not a, a Republican versus Democrat, local versus state, or House versus Senate. I mean, this is about Georgians and about more of them being able to realize part of the American dream and start building some generational wealth, you know. And I, I think this is a, a great step in that direction. We see other states moving on this.

45. 0:20:54

    Um, we also see other states that are not necessarily being as respectful of local governments and the, the funding mechanisms that they provide to them. So I think that that is something else that, that we can, we can continue to, to build upon, but we've worked really hard to accomplish. And the speaker's i- i- insisted that we do that through his leadership. So thank you very much, Mr. Chairman.

46. 0:21:21

    Representative Holcomb. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Um, do you have a sense of how many counties or governmental units that would be impacted by this would not have the same level of resources or even a, a deficit situation if we switched over to this model? Do you have any sense of how many for, for that would be true for? Well, with the, uh, if, if you look back, uh, Mr.

47. 0:21:56

    Representative, and you look at the, the property tax, and I mean, it, the data is sometimes pretty hard to get. Yeah. But if you total it up on, uh, DOR's website, the total digest in 2019 was about 13 billion. If you look at it in '24, it's about 6.4 billion more than that, about 19.4 billion. And if you look at what sales tax brought in during that same differential, it was about three and a half billion more in, in the 2024 cycle than '19.

48. 0:22:27

    So I, I guess I can't readily say for sure what areas would be able to do something out of sheer growth in the digest or extemporaneous growth, who would need assessments per se, and who would be able to do it with sales tax. But some combination of that three should make most everybody whole, and if they don't, we've added back in this grant relief program that is, uh, funded at, at no less than a 10th of a penny of a percent of sales tax at the state level.

49. 0:22:58

    And what we've determined that it would require more sooner rather than later

50. 0:23:02

    ... is about 170 million, and that would provide somewhere 200 to 250 million on an annual basis to backfill.

51. 0:23:09

    Okay. And th- and that was, you anticipated my second question, was on the grant fund program. Um, would that need to be something that the local governments would request and apply for and justify based on-

52. 0:23:25

    That's correct

53. 0:23:25

    ... their economic circumstances?

54. 0:23:27

    That's correct.

55. 0:23:28

    Okay. And, and the expected sum is approximately 170 million to start with?

56. 0:23:36

    That, uh, that, that would be, uh, a, a calculated shortfall if y- if you, if you're looking at, you know, current. But again, when you have a six-year, uh, window, and then the capability based on other exemptions to extend that out, uh, a couple of more years, you know, we don't know what that would look like then. So that's why we r- roll it up from what a seventh, uh, a .07 of a penny would be. This is one tenth of a penny. And then, of course, you, you typically have some additional growth in, in...

57. 0:24:08

    Okay. A- and then my last question, i- if I can, I, I think in one of our earlier, um, conversations on this, uh, I-

58. 0:24:17

    Oh, no, I didn't fix something, did I?

59. 0:24:20

    No. I, I, I raised the issue about the impact on bonds, which are long-term, um, debt instruments. And, and I do see that, and I think that you said that there was language regarding bonds put back in. I see some notations from 55 to 58. Can you give just a little bit of color on, on that?

60. 0:24:40

    We were, we were just asked to, uh, you know, exempt certain bonds, uh, you know, from, from the cap calculation so that any of those, any of that bond indebtedness could, could still be retired using, you know, property tax if it got to that point. Most, most, as I understand it, are backed up by other funding mechanisms but as the backup source. So that's was the adjustment there.

61. 0:25:05

    Okay. All right. Thank you.

62. 0:25:06

    Thank you, Representative Polk.

63. 0:25:10

    Chairman Corbett.

64. 0:25:11

    Chairman Corbett.

65. 0:25:11

    Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Thank you, uh, Chairman Blackmon for bringing the bill. I got a, uh, a, a good email from a constituent today, uh, talking about the, the, what you're addressing in, in this bill. Uh, very, uh, much in favor of, of what, what you're doing, uh, here. And, uh, it goes on to say, you know, he paid off his mortgage for the second time. He refinanced 15 years and goes on to say about now he still has to pay taxes on that into per- perpetuity, uh, for, for the rest of his life. It's not paid off. Uh, and he talks about seniors and how, how burdensome that is.

66. 0:25:44

    But he, he ends it, says that, "Homes that are debt-free should not be used c- as collateral for government taxes and leverage for perpetual rent payments. The state must find a better way to fund government budgets than homes, needs, and soon." So I, I think that's a common thing. And I, I, I want to just tell you thank you for working with me. I know you won't change, uh, charge me, uh, rent on staying in your office- ... down there talking to, to Brent trying to-

67. 0:26:07

    Just, just a cup of coffee in the morning, Mr. Chairman

68. 0:26:09

    ... trying to figure out how to, how to make, make, make the numbers work. But, but our, our constituents need, need this, and I, I thank you for bringing the bill, and I think you've, you've got a way for us to move forward and, and, and make this work.

69. 0:26:20

    Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I... If I can just get a cup of coffee from you every now and again. You, y'all make some good coffee down there in your office.

70. 0:26:26

    I don't, anytime at all, buddy.

71. 0:26:29

    I don't think anybody gets here any earlier than him, do they, Mr. Blackmon?

72. 0:26:31

    Well, that's for sure. Yeah. No, no, nobody.

73. 0:26:35

    Chairman Corbett, thank you for reminding us about why the speaker wanted us to pursue this path because there are people across our state that are hurting, uh, dealing with affordability crisis, and this is a great way to help them with that. Representative Prince.

74. 0:26:50

    Uh, thank you, Mr. Chairman. Uh, on or about, uh, I think line 982, it talks about this QBE formula and things like that. Is there, uh, I mean, is that something we could possibly study, uh, I guess prior to this to maybe we won't need to, uh, reduce the cost, uh, or help?

75. 0:27:14

    Y- y- yes, yes, sir, Mr. Chairman. I believe you're speaking to the, uh, to that very, um, portion of the bill that we, we have put in here that, uh, we've talked about from the beginning that would study the funding formula and possibly look at some, some simplification along with, uh, you know, economically disadvantaged districts and higher poverty areas across our state.

76. 0:27:40

    But-

77. 0:27:40

    Good, good question. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

78. 0:27:42

    Okay. Thank you.

79. 0:27:45

    All right, Chairman Blackmon, it looks like, uh, you have exhausted all the questions. The bill is now before the committee. We've had three subcommittee hearings, and, uh, we've heard extensive testimony. We have had a robust questioning process, so we're now, uh, before the committee. What's the com- pleasure of the committee?

80. 0:28:05

    Move the passage.

81. 0:28:06

    We have a motion, and we have a second. All right. Any discussion? All right, seeing no discussion. All those in favor of the passage of House Bill 1116, LC 339886, committee substitute, make me know by saying aye.

82. 0:28:24

    Aye.

83. 0:28:25

    All opposed?

84. 0:28:29

    All right. All those in favor, uh, of the passage of House Bill 1116, make me know by raising your right hand.

85. 0:28:39

    All those in favor, or excuse me, all those against the passage of House Bill 1116, please raise your right hand. All right. All right. Your bill passes, Mr. Chairman.

86. 0:28:51

    Thank you to the committee. Thank you very much, members.

87. 0:28:55

    No other business before the committee today, Mr. Chairman. We'll stand adjourned.

88. 0:28:59

    I think you can adjourn us.

89. 0:29:01

    Stand adjourned.

90. 0:29:01

    Thank you very

91. 0:29:11

    much.