TIFTON — County, city, and school board governments across the Tiftarea have come to their decisions on HB581.

The governing bodies for Tift County, Tift County Schools, and the cities of Tifton, Ty Ty, and Omega have deliberated whether to remain in the floating homestead exemption offered by the state or opt out and keep their tax values across the last couple of months, but ultimately, only the Tift County Schools Board of Education has elected to opt out of the program.

Members of the board of education met with their chief financial officer and deputy superintendent for business and operations, Renee and Klinton Guess, during their Feb. 13 meeting to weigh the options of staying in and opting out, where Klinton Guess warned the tax relief from the homestead exemption would only shift the tax burden to non-homestead properties, creating significant financial implications for farmers, businesses, and industries.

He believed it would have been devastating to the school system had the tax relief been implemented a year prior, and theorized that Tift County Schools would need to up the millage rate in the future to be able to increase revenues.

The school board heard from a handful of community members in the subsequent public hearing opposing an opt-out, including Keith Norris, who asked the board to consider how their decision would affect local families, and Tom Kramer, who believed shrinking the tax burden would in turn decrease disposable income and criticized the board members for having a shortsighted view of the situation.

However, the members of the board unanimously moved in favor of opting out.

The Tift County Board of Commissioners was initially uncertain of which road to take, with county manager Jim Carter stating at their meetings earlier in February that alternative options like sunsetting the bill would only leave them in the same place in five years that they were currently at and confirming that a tax break would only shift the tax burden to non-homestead properties.

During a called meeting to decide on the matter, Carter noted that he believed all of the cities planned on staying on board with the bill, and reminded board members that a majority of their constituents had voted in support of the exemption during the Nov. 5 election last year.

County commissioners unanimously moved to vote in favor of implementing the homestead exemption, authorizing Carter to take necessary actions in implementing all policies of the state bill.

Carter additionally noted that he had received reports that state legislators on both sides of the General Assembly were in full support of the bill, believing that there would be a push to reformat the handling of taxation around structures similar to HB581.

The City of Tifton also elected to continue with the homestead exemption policy, voting unanimously at their Feb. 17 meeting to continue opting in.

For many city council members, this decision was motivated by a desire to properly represent the interests and values of their constituents. Councilman Josh Reynolds stressed before making the vote that the city should not go against the wishes of their constituents, who had voted in favor of the homestead exemption.

This sentiment was shared by mayor Julie Smith at both this meeting and their previous council meeting, where she additionally argued that a tax break was necessary to support local businesses like Nine Oaks developer IDP, who were facing such heavy tax increases post reassessment that the housing development was certain to go bankrupt without support.

The Ty Ty City Council has also elected to remain in support of HB581.

At this time, it is unknown what the city council of Omega has decided to do regarding the exemption.