Fr Co School Board Makes No Decision on Tax Commissioner’s Proposal to Raise Tax Exemptions for Senior Citizens

The Franklin County School Board has made no decision on whether to back a proposal by Franklin County Tax Commissioner Bobby Martin to raise the property tax exemption for senior citizens over the age of 65.

At their work session last week, Martin took his proposal before the Board.

Citing the recent increase in property taxes in Franklin County, he said many elderly are having to choose between paying their tax bill, and paying for other vital necessities like medications and food.

Martin noted that Franklin County cannot afford to eliminate the School Property Tax for those over 65.

“I’ve explained to them, and I take whatever time is necessary to explain to them that it won’t work in our county. It’s just not possible,” he said. “We don’t have the commercial property, the retail property, the industry to support that. If we eliminate that group of people the rest of us couldn’t tote the load. It will not work here.”

Martin is proposing raising the homestead exemption for seniors over 65 to $20,000 from $10,000.

“What we can do, and it’s authorized under the State Constitution is that we can increase the exemptions. You can do anything with the exemption you really want to do. I addressed the Franklin County Commission Monday night and they have voted unanimously to double the $10,000 homestead exemptions for people age 65 and older,” Martin told the School Board.

Martin noted school systems in surrounding counties all have school homestead exemptions and some are higher than his proposal.

“Stephens County, Banks County have a $20,000 exemption, Jackson County has a $50,000 exemption, Hall County it’s 100% at 70 years and $30,000 at 62 years old. So, it’s not something that’s unheard of,” he said.

School Board Chair Robin Cato asked if there were other ways to structure the school property tax for seniors, such as based on income.

Martin said yes, but it would get complicated if they did that.

“If you impose an income requirement it requires two different referendums on the ballot in May, one for the School System, one for the County because they did not link theirs to income,” Martin explained. “So, seniors would have to bring in their tax returns and that would have to be reviewed by the Tax Assessor. Then, you get into how often do you want to review it? Is it annually? Do they show up one time and do it and it’s good forever? Then, do you base it to their Social Security income, retirement annuities, on pensions? If you tie it to income, you kind of get into the weeds there.”

Other Board members asked if there were a recession, could the School Board reverse their decision after the exemption was raised and Martin said no.

If the School Board approves raising the tax exemption status for seniors over 65, the school would lose approximately $271,000 in tax revenue a year.

After hearing from Martin, Board members took no action and School Superintendent Chris Forer said he wants to discuss the proposal with the School Board before moving forward with any decision.