Passage of the proposed tax relief may come in the next year
Property owners may not get relief from a proposed Local Homestead Option Sales Tax (LHOST) this year, but there appears to be wide support for it locally after a regional educational meeting held last week at the Southeast Georgia Regional Agriculture Center (formerly the NFC building) in Blackshear.
The proposed LHOST will allow local governments to levy a Local Homestead Option Sales Tax (LHOST). Proceeds from the sales tax would be applied to property tax bills to give relief to land and home owners.
Over 60 representatives from 16 different counties and cities joined Pierce County officials for the regional meeting.
The meeting was conducted by Alicia Vaughn, Bill Twomey and Brent Williams with the Association County Commissioners of Georgia (ACCG).
Pierce County and the cities of Blackshear and Patterson had already given public notice they intended to put the LHOST on the ballot as soon as possible, but the bill failed to pass during the called special session. (See related story.)
Other counties and cities in the area had also planned to do the same and last week’s regional meeting was to help those governments get information about and make plans for implementing the LHOST.
However, the Georgia General Assembly did not approve the LHOST during its special called session that ended last week.
The LHOST bill passed the House of Representatives 95-67, but constitutional amendments require a twothirds majority which is 120 votes in the 180-seat Georgia House.
The Democrats argued levying a sales tax to subsidize homeowner property tax bills would raise prices on all Georgia citizens for everything they buy.
Republicans contended that fast-rising property tax bills have become unaffordable and that their approach would have helped.
Republicans had pointed out that tourists pay sales taxes too. They did not point out, however, that the revenue would have subsidized only the local government portion of the tax bill and not the school portion, which is typically the largest share.
Vaughn, Twomey and Williams gave a slide show providing an overview of the LHOST and a similar tax, the Floating Local Option Sales Tax (FLOST).
The trio covered statutory requirements, distribution methods, negotiations and best practices for both county and city collaboration.
Local officials are hopeful the General Assembly will take up the issue again in January.
