Jones County Board of Commissioners held its first public hearing for the recently approved House Bill 581 last week with several concerned citizens in attendance with questions.
The Jan. 28 hearing was called to order by Board Chairman Chris Weidner. Commissioners Sam Kitchens, John Wood and Daylon Martin were also in attendance. The commissioners voted unanimously to opt out of HB 581, and three public hearings are part of that process.
County Administrator Jason Rizner began the session with a presentation explaining the basics of the bill. He said the bill has three parts, but the one that got the attention of taxpayers was a statewide floating homestead exemption.
That exemption sounded good to property owners who had experienced increases in their taxes over the past couple of years. The bill would limit the percentage of increased tax paid on the property each year to the rate of inflation, which is usually around 2 percent.
Any amount over that would be exempt until the property is sold. It does not mean the property value will not increase, which is why the exemption would be a ‘floating exemption’ that could change each year.
The amount of the exemption would grow with the property value.
Rizner said the base year value for the properties would be 2024, which is a huge concern for Jones County. He explained that Jones County is preparing to do a county-wide revaluation after failing the Department of Revenue Sales Ratio Audits for two consecutive years.
That failure is due to property values being inconsistent and unequal countywide.
The administrator said, if property values were frozen at their current amount, it is feared the county would never be able to catch up.
Weidner noted that the final version of the bill was not what its author had proposed.
“He is urging cities and counties to opt out,” he said.
Kitchens said the bill would create more inequity in property values, and Martin said the sad part of the bill is that it locks counties in.
“Once you’re in, you can’t opt out,” he said.
Wood said he went to a meeting at the Board of Education after the bill was approved by voters to hear a presentation explaining the bill. He said the presenter also stated that the bill’s author was suggesting that counties opt out.
Ty Clements spoke to the commissioners about property tax increases and his concern the increases would continue.
“If it will limit our tax increases, it sounds good to me,” he said.
Several more people asked for clarification about HB 581, how taxes are calculated and Jones County’s current tax exemptions. Jones County currently has the homestead exemption that is available for residences of all property owners and an additional $15,000 school tax exemption for property owners over the age of 62.
There are also special tax exemptions for low-income seniors, disabled veterans and surviving spouses of veterans who were killed during in any war or conflict.
Applications for the exemptions are available online or at the Jones County Tax Assessors Office in the government center.
Rizner said it is important for counties to have control over the tax rate because all counties are different.
“The county can always look at exemptions, but they would be tailored to meet the needs of Jones County. Opting out of this bill gives us more flexibility down the road,” he added.
The remaining two public hearings for Jones County are scheduled Feb. 4, at 5 p.m., prior to their 6 p.m. board meeting and 6 p.m. Feb. 6.
