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DeKalb County says tax cuts translate into $110 million annual savings for homestead property owners

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DeKalb County says tax cuts translate into $110 million annual savings for homestead property owners

DeKalb County Georgia. Source: Google Maps.
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DeKalb County Georgia. Source: Google Maps.

This story has been updated. 

A change in the way tax money is dispersed in DeKalb County means some savings for many county homeowners.

DeKalb County says in a press release that the adoption of the Equalized Homestead Option Sales Tax in 2017 will result in $110 million in annual tax savings for county taxpayers over the next six years.

Tax bills will include information on how much each taxpayer saved, the county says.

“DeKalb has delivered on providing tax relief to county property owners,” DeKalb County CEO Michael Thurmond said. “Thanks to the passage of two historic measures in November, the county is revolutionizing the process of extending tax relief and improved services to DeKalb citizens.”

The county tax rate was adjusted when county residents passed the Equalized Homestead Option Sales Tax (EHOST) and the Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax (SPLOST) in 2017.

Under the old formula a penny HOST tax was divided into two categories: 80 percent went to tax breaks for property owners and 20 percent paid for infrastructure projects. But as new cities formed, they received more and more of the 20 percent set aside for these projects and the county received less. County voters approved changing that formula last year. Now EHOST goes directly to property tax relief and the extra penny pays for other projects, like road paving.

County taxpayers living in cities saw the greatest benefit from EHOST. That’s because cities tend to rely on the county less for basic services, like, sanitation, police and fire.

According to the county:

Many property owners will likely notice an increase in their overall bills due to an increase in their property values. County Commissioners recently adopted the 2018 millage rate, and residents of DeKalb County’s cities saw an average increase of .51 mills in their tax bills, the Atlanta Journal Constitution reported.

Hans Utz, the former deputy COO for the city of Atlanta, recently provided Decaturish an in-depth analysis of how the tax bills will look for Decatur residents. To read that, click here.

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