About a dozen residents attended this week’s town hall meeting hosted by State Representative Lauren Daniel. Rep. Daniel shared updates from this year’s session as well as touched on local property taxes.
State Rep Daniel’s Town Hall
Representative Daniel scheduled the town hall meeting after residents reached out with concerns about their recent tax assessment notices. She shared with those present an overview of the appeals process. Property owners may submit an appeal until June 12 if they feel the county has overestimated the value of their property. The appeal form is available online from the state.
To file an appeal, the property owner must state what they believe their property is worth. Most often, this is determined based on the sale price of similar homes within the area. After filing an appeal, an appraiser from the county tax assessor’s office will perform a site visit. The property owner will also be scheduled to present at a board of assessor’s meeting. The board of assessors will then rule on the appeal. Finally, appealing the assessment will freeze a property value for three years.
An FAQ and overview of the appeals process is available on the county tax assessor’s website.
Homestead Exemptions
Also mentioned at Tuesday night’s town hall were the homestead exemptions available in Henry County. Most notably, there is a frozen exemption on county government property taxes. This means that for homeowners the amount paid to the county each year does not change. The frozen exemption is expected to save homeowners between $30-$35 million dollars in 2023.
The frozen exemption does not apply to school board taxes. As a result, the school board taxes increase year-to-year with changes in property value. MHF News recently shared a look at three other counties considering an increase in school board homestead. Such measure(s) could reduce homeowners’ tax bills if passed in Henry County.
Next Year’s Session
State lawmakers meet for about three months each year. Their annual session begins the second week of January and continues until early April. Any bills not passed this year can be reconsidered next year.
Rep. Daniel shared with attendees one of her focus areas next year will be issues affecting young families. Particularly, access to maternal healthcare. Daniel is one of the youngest representatives at the Capitol. She has three children in grade school and is currently pregnant with her fourth child. On Thursday, May 4, she served as a guest speaker for the Healthy Mothers, Healthy Babies Coalition of Georgia’s event at the State Capitol.
Finally, Representative Daniel emphasized to those in attendance she strides to be available to everyone in the district. Hosting town hall meetings, such as the one on Tuesday night, is part of that work. Her house district covers the Locust Grove, Luella and Ola communities. Constituents can contact her via email if they have any questions or concerns.
Featured image shows State Rep Lauren Daniel at a town hall meeting in May 2023. Clayton Carte photo.
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