Comments on: Decatur Looks To Provide Tax Relief http://www.decaturmetro.com/2009/08/17/decatur-looks-to-provide-tax-relief/ Decatur Georgia News, Events, Atlanta News Tue, 05 Nov 2013 02:36:57 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.6.1 By: Decatur Metro http://www.decaturmetro.com/2009/08/17/decatur-looks-to-provide-tax-relief/#comment-16037 Decatur Metro Tue, 18 Aug 2009 15:42:42 +0000 http://www.decaturmetro.com/?p=20705#comment-16037 Thanks Dave, I must have confused HTRG with something else. Now that I read it, your explanation sounds correct. I now remember all the cities being pissed that the state had allowed the first round of exemptions but then refused to pay. I’ll restate above.

]]> By: Dave Kell http://www.decaturmetro.com/2009/08/17/decatur-looks-to-provide-tax-relief/#comment-16033 Dave Kell Tue, 18 Aug 2009 15:26:26 +0000 http://www.decaturmetro.com/?p=20705#comment-16033 DM: “…thanks to new House Bill 143, when the state has no money, it no longer has to pay back the money it collected from local governments to fund the Homeowner’s Tax Relief Grant.”

This is not the way I understand it works (or did work).

It was actually a “pass-through.” Decatur gave the exemption to its citizens who qualified. It then added up the total it gave and sent the bill to the State. The State then reimbursed the city for the total amount.

But, in a broader sense, the State was simply giving some of us Georgia citizens some of the money we paid in state taxes back.

As a libertarian, I’m pleased in principle to see it go. I’d rather we pay less taxes to the state and more to the city, and let the city give an exemption directly if that’s what the citizenry wants. There’s a lot of waste and corruption involved when we send tax $ to the state and federal government, some of which is send back to the states, local governments, and individuals.

But, that said, I’ll miss the $252 or so.

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