MM: CSD Pursuing Homestead Exemption for Seniors, Bike Registration, and L.A. Transit Overall
Decatur Metro | August 14, 2015 | 10:04 am
- School board to pursue homestead exemption for seniors [AJC]
- Bicycle registration at Oakhurst Market this Friday [Decatur Minute]
- DeKalb tax bills go out this week [Decatur Tax Blog]
- Google Fiber teams surveying utility poles in Avondale Estates [Decaturish]
- L.A. Maps Out Sweeping Transportation Overhaul [Mass Transit]
- Atlanta’s Population Growth Accelerating As Economy Recovers [WABE]
The break on school taxes for seniors with no income restrictions would do a lot to keep pricing people out of homes they’d hoped to live out their lives in. But, it’s still a year away from offering any relief, and that is assuming is passes the GA Legislature, after a less aggressive measure was rejected in 2015. The population of people that could stand to benefit from this declines every month.
“a less aggressive measure was rejected in 2015”
Actually, I don’t think it was rejected; I think it got caught up in the cityhood mess and never came to a vote.
The press release from Baskett mentioned it being “defeated”, but you are right . . . I’m not sure it was ever voted on. I think it maybe just got lost in the mad scramble there at the end.
“Decatur City Commission had also supported legislation to increase homestead exemptions for City of Decatur taxes. We are highly disappointed that property tax relief for our taxpayers, particularly for low and moderate income seniors was defeated in the Georgia House of Representatives. Adoption of the proposed legislation would have made a real difference in the lives of our seniors by providing over $1,100 of annual tax savings. The Decatur City Commission will try again in 2016 to secure reconsideration of the legislation by the General Assembly”
“they’d hoped to live their lives out in”
There are many things I hope happen in my lifetime. Many will come true. But many won’t. When did retiring in place become a right that others are forced to subsidize?
I suspect both of our tax dollars are subsidizing quite a few things we don’t necessarily agree with. Those can be different things, and that’s okay.
Ah, but it’s not about subsidizing their retirement in place. It’s about not forcing them to continually subsidize their new neighbors increasing demands for school dollars and other things that are really no longer their burden to bear. Interesting to hear you, of all people, characterize a tax break as a subsidy 🙂
+1000
I don’t want to pay for canopy coverage studies, historic district oversight or community development/quality of life. I don’t feel those are my burdens – where do we sign up to pick and choose what we pay taxes on?
Must depend on who is getting the tax break
Didn’t their children’s educations get subsidized by an older generation? Why should they get a break from it just because they are older (as opposed to based on income)?
Because we are the Elders. Kneel and venerate us.
The article reports: ““We want to keep our seniors in the community,” said board member Lewis Jones. “But we also don’t want them getting replaced by families with four children.””
Dear people with children – you are apparently not wanted. If this were stated by a landlord it would be a violation of the 1968 Fair Housing Act… I’m just sayin’.
Earlier this week I saw one of the Google Fiber guys mapping utility poles in Decatur (Ponce Terrace neighborhood).
I love how this photo keeps popping up, year after year.
How about paying into the school system for a certain number of years. 35? Or maybe we offer
a lower rate to those on low incomes. Seeing the size of some of our retirees’ houses, I don’t think the
old “fixed income” defense works. It’s a responsibility.
p.s.
If this is truly what Lewis Jones said, I’d be happy to point out the exit for him as well.
i am surprised so many commenters are opposed to this. I don’t see this as anti families with school age kids, I see it as a pro community. If Decatur is really a community–a real city–and not just a trendy neighborhood, there has to be a place for retirees –and young people just starting out–and single people–and people who don’t make six figure –and single parents — as well as two parent households with kids.
By the time I have reached 65 I will have been paying property taxes in Decatur for 40 years.
This is exactly right. Lewis Jones’ comments might not have been delivered with the kind of kid gloves people seem to require but he’s exactly right. A huge number of seniors occupy modest homes from the turn of the century up through the 50s and 60s. If they remain in their homes, they hold that property. If they feel compelled to leave, that house, in all likelihood, gets redeveloped (probably scraped and not renovated) and then occupied by a family with children. Because that is where the real demand exists for single family homes in Decatur.
Taken in that context, tax breaks for seniors are not some mindless handout to appease grumpy get-off-my-lawners. It’s a strategic move because, done correctly, it tackles two of our most pressing (or at least most discussed) problems: Teardowns/McMansionization and bulging CSD enrollment.
Handout? If anything, seniors sticking around are doing us all a favor. Pay-up or get out, like all reductionist, bean counting policies, is actually counter productive to what people are actually trying to achieve in the big picture.
Thank you.
Well said, sir.
There’s a lot of truth in what you say, but still doesn’t address why you would give a tax break to people who don’t need it financially.
Another group of people who are moving out and letting families with young children move in are the middle aged parents of just graduated CSD students. Should we give them tax breaks too to keep them here?
Why not just give tax breaks to everyone who doesn’t have a child? Or tax per child in the household?
If we charge per child… i.e. tuition… seems like it would then be private school.
If I put grandma on the deed, or have her hold the house in trust (she will live in the in-law suite of course!) can I send my children to CSD and not pay taxes under this new plan?
You’re right that there should probably be some level of means-testing but means-testing in Decatur, based on our tax burden and cost of living, is not necessarily compatible with a lot of other places.
If (and that’s something the community needs to decide) we want Boomers and seniors to stay here after their kids graduate and well into their retirement, then we need to drill down on the calculation. A lot of people are willing to pay some level of premium to stay here, but that may still be well below the full tax burden as it currently stands.
In short, we need to 1.) do a more nuanced level of number crunching that balances quality of life with decades of helping build up this community with the realities of moving beyond one’s prime earning years; and 2.) come to an agreement about whether or not we value this segment of the population enough to ensure they’re able to remain here.
I think my comments make clear where I stand on the matter.
I appreciate your cost benefit analysis, and you make many valid points (as always). My issue is subsidizing retiring in place just because ones hopes didn’t come true, notwithstanding the fact that the alternative places additional burdens on the schools. It’s a bitch when your principles conflict with your self interest.
“It’s a bitch when your principles conflict with your self interest.”
True dat. And that’s why none of our politicians have principles any more.
But is conflict actually the case here? Decatur’s principles — at least as articulated in the strategic plan and embodied in the city’s ongoing initiatives and priorities — value the prospect of aging in place. And Decatur’s self-interest requires a way to keep school enrollments from ballooning beyond our present predicament. Addressing the former by way of tax incentives seems to contribute to the latter, no?
Thus, I don’t feel like it’s saying, “Oh you poor senior! Your wishes for the future didn’t pan out as you expected and we feel bad. So here’s some money.”
I feel like it’s saying, “You know, seniors, you’d be doing us a real favor if you stuck around. How do we make it worth your while?”
+1000