After weighing pros and cons, the town of Tallulah Falls officially opted in to House Bill 581 following two public hearings on Thursday, Feb. 13.
HB 581 is a statewide floating homestead exemption that caps the annual increases in property values as a form of tax relief.
During the hearings last week, officials entertained the notion of opting out of the bill approved by voters in November. But ultimately, council members voted to join Habersham County and its six other cities – which have indicated plans of their own to adopt the bill.
In Rabun, the three cities that collect property tax (Tallulah Falls, Clayton and Sky Valley) and the county have all indicated decisions to opt-in as well.
With both counties and its cities planning to opt-in, HB 581 could in effect stay alive in Habersham and Rabun.
According to the legislation, each county and its municipalities must be unanimous in adopting the homestead exemption to be eligible to vote on FLOST – a 1 cent sales tax that would have to be approved by voters at a later date. Revenue from FLOST, if approved, could only be used to rollback the millage rate.
Tallulah Falls Mayor Mike Early said that while he still fears potential revenue loss that HB 581 could bring to the city – if FLOST isn’t approved by voters – council members were wary of isolating the town as the sole holdout that could kill the bill.
“Our council, rightly so, didn’t want to put (the town) in a position where we alienated ourselves from everybody else in both counties,” Early said. “That would’ve been a poor decision. Even if it was in the best interest of our community, it still would not have been a good decision to make.”
Tallulah Falls, a town of just over 200 people, has an annual budget of around $350,000-$400,000. And with a lack of commercial property, the town’s revenue is almost solely driven by its residential tax base.
“It’s going to be difficult for whoever is making the decisions at that point,” Early said. “…at some point (without FLOST), we’d just have to raise our millage rate to make up that difference. That’s not a position we (elected officials) ever want to find ourselves in.”
On Monday, Feb. 17, Early said city officials are more or less “taking a gamble” in deciding to opt in, given all the factors specific to Tallulah Falls, with the hope that voters would approve FLOST by referendum.
Since the decision to opt-in last week, Tallulah Falls will not hold a third public hearing over the bill.
A previous article reported Tallulah Falls was undecided on House Bill 581 and would hold a third and final public hearing in February. The town opted in to HB 581 on Thursday, Feb. 13.
