Levitas pre-files bills offering alternative to Richardson

Of the big issues that already have staked a claim on the 2008 debate schedule, one of the biggest is Speaker Glenn Richardson’s tax reform proposal, an effort to eliminate most property taxes               and replace them with an expanded sales tax. (He’s also said it might just apply to school taxes. It remains a work in progress.)             

Three pre-filed bills offer an alternative. All are from Levitas.

* HB 896 would give taxpayers a credit against their state income taxes for the ad valorem taxes they pay, so long as the state’s revenue shortfall reserve fund remained above $500 million. (Not a problem this year. As we reported last week, the reserves are now at $1.6 billion.)

* HR  1012 is a proposed constitutional amendment that would freeze property tax assessments at their current level, but only for the county portion of the tax bill. (The school portion is often as               much, if not more. Municipal levies also would not be affected.)    

* HR 1013 is broader. It would allow the Legislature to freeze assessments for “any or all” ad valorem taxes.

Dick Pettys, Insider Advantage

We don't want to turn over tax collection to the state, and then have to beg for our fair share of it for DeKalb County, based on our percentage of the state population and our average income. Just look at how Decatur has to beg for its fair share of DeKalb taxes now.