News and Announcements
Published Tuesday, September 01, 2009 in Opinion
Newnan Times-Herald
Haunting effects of changing tax grant
Opinion Column by Mitch Seabaugh
During the 2009 legislative session, the General Assembly worked hard to balance the budget by cutting inefficient programs and wasted taxpayer dollars. It's true that we passed a number of important measures to protect homeowners. There is one exception, however: The decision not to fund the Homeowners Tax Relief Grant.
This tax break was designed as a grant to local governments to give property tax relief for homeowners. For instance, if your property tax bill was $2,000, the state paid between $200 and $300 of the bill for you. So, you paid about $1,700 of the bill and the state paid the rest. Since its inception, there have been ample state revenues to fund this tax relief. Homeowners have received a tax break each year -- until now. This past session the General Assembly passed legislation that changed the rules for funding the grant.
Beginning this year, the state will not fund property tax relief for homeowners through this tax relief grant unless the state has surplus revenues. This means unless your local government decides to reduce their tax bill, you will now have to pay the whole tax bill, or the whole $2,000.
In my opinion, this was the wrong time to do this. Yes, the state is struggling with lower revenues, and we are facing a challenge in finding more cuts. But our citizens are also struggling daily with their own financial challenges. This was not the right cut. I did not feel this was a time to ask property owners to pay more in property taxes. I spoke against this bill from the floor, and I voted against changing the rules that would cause homeowners to have to pay more in taxes. I felt the taxpayers needed the money more than the state.
Now, the General Assembly did pass several important laws to protect property owners this year. We capped property tax assessments at zero percent for two years (HB 233). This means no local government can raise your taxes through the back door by simply increasing your property value.
We enforced true assessed property values by requiring all distressed properties be considered when determining local values (SB 55). In order for property owners to have a fair chance at appeal, we instituted the New Expedited and Cost Effective Process of Appeals of Assessment (SB 240) that places the burden of proof on the government, not the property owner.
Finally, property owners also must now receive a Notice of Right to File Return with Every Tax Bill (HB 304).
*******************NOTICE**CODE RED******************
Heard County Commission Chair June Jackson announced that the Heard County Board of Commissioners has contracted with Emergency Communications Network, Inc., for its "CodeRED" high-speed telephone emergency notification services. The CodeRED system gives county public safety officials the ability to deliver pre-recorded emergency telephone notification/information messages to targeted areas or the entire county at a rate of up to 60,000 calls per hour. Examples of times when the CodeRED system could be utilized are:
Severe weather warnings
Evacuation notice & route
Missing person
Fires or Floods
Public health emergencies
Chemical spill or Gas leak
Citizens can click on the link below and it will direct you to an enrollment page for you to add your phone number to the data base to be called.
https://login.coderedweb.com/codereddataentry/Default.aspx?groupid=jXrgwBJek4h%2bJzA6SIByGg%3d%3d
Sheriff Ross Henry and Fire Chief Scott Blue, cautioned that such systems are only as good as the telephone database supporting them. "If your phone number is not in the database, you will not be called". The CodeRED system not only offers faster calling rates and improved message delivery, it gives individuals and businesses the ability to add their own phone numbers directly to the system's telephone database. Sheriff Henry emphasized that this is an extremely important feature.
To ensure no one is omitted, Chief Blue urges all individuals and businesses to log onto the Heard county website, HYPERLINK "http://www.heardcountyga.com" www.heardcountyga.com or the department website www.heardfire.com and follow the link to the "CodeRED
Residential and Business Data Collection" page. Also this site has a link below, and on the links page. Those without Internet access may call Heard County Fire & Emergency Services at (706-675-6186), Monday through Friday, (9AM-5PM) to give their information over the phone. Required information includes first and last name, street address (physical address, no P.O. boxes), city, state, zip code, and primary phone number, additional phone numbers (optional).
No one should automatically assume his or her phone number is included, Sheriff Henry said. All businesses should register, as well as all individuals who have unlisted phone numbers, who have changed their phone number or address within the last year, and who use a cellular phone as their primary home phone.
Chief Blue explained that the "CodeRED system is a geographical based notification system, which means street addresses are needed to select which phone numbers will receive emergency notification calls in any given situation. The system works fine for cell phones too, but we need to have a street address". People who have recently moved but kept the same listed or unlisted phone number also need to change their address in the database.
Chief Blue stated, "CodeRED gives those who wish to be included an easy and secure method for doing so with no cost to our citizens. The information will only be used for emergency notification purposes". Questions should be
directed to Heard County Fire & Emergency Services, 706-675-6186.
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