The Georgia Senate recently failed to secure the two-thirds vote required to advance two major local property tax measures to the November ballot.
What were these measures for? The measures would implement the Local Homestead Option Sales Tax (LHOST) and the Floating Local Option Sales Tax (FLOST). Both of these would function as a revenue swap by increasing sales taxes and reducing property taxes.
What lawmakers are saying:
- State Senator John Albers (R-Roswell): “Yesterday, Senate Democrats chose to deny Georgians, including many of their own constituents, the right to vote on property tax relief. At a time when families are facing rising costs, and homeownership is increasingly difficult to achieve, Georgians deserve the opportunity to vote on measures that could help keep the American Dream within reach.”
- Continued: “These bills did not impose a new tax or automatically change anyone’s property taxes. They simply would have allowed local voters to consider whether to adopt a local option sales tax in exchange for reducing their property tax burden.”
- State Senator Freddie Powell Sims (D-Abany: “In the name of affordability, we cannot pass legislation that kills jobs, raises grocery prices, and wreaks havoc on Georgia families’ budgets in all tax brackets. Instead, Georgia must find a more equitable, less intrusive way to manage runaway property taxes while continuing to provide the services needed for the public good.”
Context: Since these measures dictate local taxation changes, they required a two-thirds supermajority vote in the General Assembly to be cleared and placed on the ballot for November.
The Georgia Senate failed to reach this threshold due to a partisan divide, as evidenced by the statements provided above. Republicans sought to reduce property taxes amid rising costs and asserted the right of Georgians to decide for themselves.
Democrats saw this issue differently. According to figures like Sen. Sims, this came down to ensuring that communities don’t lose this much-needed revenue.
Property taxes are a major source of revenue for public safety, infrastructure, and education. According to Democrats, cutting them without instituting an equitable replacement could lead to unintended consequences.
