Georgia Amendment 1, Local Option Homestead Property Tax Exemption Amendment (2024)

Georgia Amendment 1
Election date November 5, 2024
Topic Taxes and Property
Status a Approved
Type Constitutional amendment	Origin State legislature

Georgia Amendment 1, the Local Option Homestead Property Tax Exemption Amendment, was on the ballot in Georgia as a legislatively referred constitutional amendment on November 5, 2024. It was approved.

A "yes" vote supported providing for a local option homestead property tax exemption and allowing a county, municipality, or school system to opt out of the exemption.

A "no" vote opposed providing for a local option homestead property tax exemption and allowing a county, municipality, or school system to opt out of the exemption.

Election results

Georgia Amendment 1
Result		Votes	Percentage
Yes		3,094,322	62.92%
No		1,823,529	37.08%

Results are officially certified.

Source

Overview

What did Amendment 1 do?

See also: Text of measure

The proposed amendment authorized the state legislature to implement a statewide local-option homestead exemption from ad valorem taxes. The exemption must be uniformly applicable to each county, consolidated government, municipality, or local school system beginning January 1, 2025.

The homestead exemption could be limited to any political subdivisions that do not already have an existing homestead exemption. Under the amendment, counties, consolidated governments, municipalities, or local school systems could choose to opt out of the homestead exemption. The state legislature must provide through state law for an opting out process.

What types of homestead exemptions are available in Georgia?

See also: Background

A homestead property tax exemption reduces the amount of property taxes that a homeowner owes on their residence.

The following conditions must be met to qualify for a homestead exemption in Georgia:

• ownership of the property must be established as of January 1;
• the property must be designated as the individual's legal residence for all purposes;
• the individual must physically occupy the home; and
• the individual can not be currently claiming a homestead exemption for another property, whether within Georgia or in any other state.

Georgia offers various state property tax exemptions. Additionally, the Georgia Constitution allows counties to enact local homestead exemptions. In total, 36 of Georgia's 159 counties have enacted an exemption that freezes the valuation of the property at the base year valuation as long as the homeowner continues to live at the residence.

Are there other tax exemption measures on the Georgia ballot in 2024?

The legislature also referred a measure to the 2024 ballot that was designed to increase the personal property tax exemption from $7,500 to $20,000.

How did this amendment get on the ballot?

See also: Path to the ballot

The state House approved the amendment as House Resolution 1022 (HR 1022) on February 27, 2024. The vote was 168-0. The Senate approved the amendment on March 26, 2024, in a vote of 42-11. To put a legislatively referred constitutional amendment before voters, a two-thirds (66.67%) vote was required in both chambers of the legislature.

Text of the measure

Ballot title

The ballot title for the amendment was as follows:

“

Shall the Constitution of Georgia be amended so as to authorize the General Assembly to provide by general law for a state-wide homestead exemption that serves to limit increases in the assessed value of homesteads, but which any county, consolidated government, municipality, or local school system may opt out of upon the completion of certain procedures?

”

Constitutional changes

The amendment amended Article VII of the Georgia Constitution. The following struck-through text was deleted and underlined text was added. Note: Hover over the text and scroll to see the full text.

(a.1) In addition to the powers otherwise authorized by this Constitution, the General Assembly shall be authorized to provide by general law for a single state-wide homestead exemption from ad valorem taxes that is uniformly applicable to each county, consolidated government, municipality, or local school system beginning January 1, 2025; provided, however, that the General Assembly may:

(1) Limit the application of the homestead exemption to any such political subdivisions that do not already have certain existing homestead exemptions in effect;

(2) Prescribe a method by which any such political subdivision may opt out of said homestead exemption; and

(3) Prescribe a method by which any such newly created political subdivision may opt in to such homestead exemption.

Readability score

See also: Ballot measure readability scores, 2024

Using the Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level (FKGL) and Flesch Reading Ease (FRE) formulas, Ballotpedia scored the readability of the ballot title for this measure. Readability scores are designed to indicate the reading difficulty of text. The Flesch-Kincaid formulas account for the number of words, syllables, and sentences in a text; they do not account for the difficulty of the ideas in the text. The state legislature wrote the ballot language for this measure.

The FKGL for the ballot title is grade level 28, and the FRE is -7. The word count for the ballot title is 57.

Support

Supporters

Officials

• State Rep. Shaw Blackmon (R)
• State Rep. Beth Camp (R)
• State Rep. Spencer Frye (D)
• State Rep. Chuck Martin (R)
• State Rep. Dale Washburn (R)

Arguments

You can share campaign information or arguments, along with source links for this information, at editor@ballotpedia.org.

Opposition

Arguments

You can share campaign information or arguments, along with source links for this information, at editor@ballotpedia.org.

Campaign finance

See also: Campaign finance requirements for Georgia ballot measures

If you are aware of a committee registered to support or oppose this measure, please email editor@ballotpedia.org.

	Cash Contributions	In-Kind Contributions	Total Contributions	Cash Expenditures	Total Expenditures
Support	$0.00	$0.00	$0.00	$0.00	$0.00
Oppose	$0.00	$0.00	$0.00	$0.00	$0.00
Total	$0.00	$0.00	$0.00	$0.00	$0.00

Background

Homestead property tax exemptions in Georgia

A homestead property tax exemption reduces the amount of property taxes that a homeowner owes on their residence.

The following conditions must be met to qualify for a homestead exemption in Georgia:

• ownership of the property must be established as of January 1;
• the property must be designated as the individual's legal residence for all purposes;
• the individual must physically occupy the home; and
• the individual can not be currently claiming a homestead exemption for another property, whether within Georgia or in any other state.

Georgia offers the following state and county homestead exemptions:

• The Standard Homestead Exemption, which provides a $2,000 deduction from the assessed value of the primary residence for county and school taxes, with certain exceptions.
• Individuals aged 65 and older may claim a $4,000 exemption from all county ad valorem taxes if their income is below $10,000 per year, with exclusions for social security income.
• Individuals aged 62 and older may claim an additional exemption for taxes with educational purposes (including to retire school bond debt), if the individual's income is below $10,000.
• The Floating Inflation-Proof Exemption is available for individuals aged 62 and older, allowing for an exemption based on natural increases in the home's value and that is available if the home has increased in appraised value by $10,000 or more;
• Disabled veterans or their surviving spouses are eligible for exemptions as well as surviving spouses of U.S. service members or peace officers/firefighters killed in the line of duty are granted exemptions from ad valorem taxes, with specific amounts determined by law.

County local homestead exemptions

The Georgia Constitution allows counties to enact local homestead exemptions. The following 36 counties have enacted an exemption that freezes the valuation of the property at the base year valuation as long as the homeowner continues to live at the residence:

Property tax ballot measures, 2024

Ten ballot measures concerning property taxes were certified to appear on the 2024 ballot in eight states.

State	Year	Ballot Measure	Type	Status
Wyoming	2024	Wyoming Property Tax on Residential Property and Owner-Occupied Primary Residences Amendment	Legislatively referred constitutional amendment	Approved
New Mexico	2024	New Mexico Constitutional Amendment 1	Legislatively referred constitutional amendment	Approved
New Mexico	2024	New Mexico Constitutional Amendment 2	Legislatively referred constitutional amendment	Approved
Colorado	2024	Colorado Amendment G	Legislatively referred constitutional amendment	Approved
Virginia	2024	Virginia Property Tax Exemption for Veterans and Surviving Spouses Amendment	Legislatively referred constitutional amendment	Approved
Arizona	2024	Arizona Proposition 312	Legislatively referred state statute	Approved
Florida	2024	Florida Amendment 5	Legislatively referred constitutional amendment	Approved
Georgia	2024	Georgia Referendum A	Legislatively referred state statute	Approved
Georgia	2024	Georgia Amendment 1	Legislatively referred constitutional amendment	Approved
Louisiana	2024	Louisiana Amendment 4	Legislatively referred constitutional amendment	Approved

Path to the ballot

See also: Amending the Georgia Constitution

To put a legislatively referred constitutional amendment before voters, a two-thirds (66.67%) vote vote is required in both the Georgia State Senate and the Georgia House of Representatives.

On February 27, 2024, the state House approved House Resolution 1022 proposing this amendment by a vote of 168-0, with 10 members excused or not voting. On March 26, 2024, the Senate adopted an amended version of the bill in a vote of 42-11. The House adopted the bill on March 28 in a vote of 171-0.

Vote in the Georgia State Senate March 26, 2024
Requirement: Two-thirds (66.67 percent) vote of all members in each chamber
Number of yes votes required: 38  a
	Yes	No	Not voting
Total	42	11	3
Total percent	75.00%	19.64%	5.36%
Democrat	10	11	2
Republican	32	0	1

Vote in the Georgia House of Representatives March 28, 2024
Requirement: Two-thirds (66.67 percent) vote of all members in each chamber
Number of yes votes required: 120  a
	Yes	No	Not voting
Total	171	0	8
Total percent	95.53%	0.00%	4.47%
Democrat	74	0	5
Republican	97	0	3

How to cast a vote

See also: Voting in Georgia

See below to learn more about current voter registration rules, identification requirements, and poll times in Georgia.

How to vote in Georgia

Poll times

In Georgia, polls are open from 7 a.m. until 7 p.m. Eastern Time. In cities with a population greater than 300,000 people, polls remain open until 8 p.m. An individual who is in line at the time polls close must be allowed to vote.

Registration

Check your voter registration status here.

To vote in Georgia, one must be a citizen of the United States and a legal resident of their county. The voter must be at least 17.5 years of age at the time of registration and 18 at the time of the election, and not serving a sentence for a felony conviction.

The deadline to register to vote is 29 days prior to the election. Registration can be completed online, in person, or by mail.

Automatic registration

In Georgia, eligible voters are automatically registered to vote when they conduct transactions at the Department of Driver Services. This automatic registration program began in 2016.

Online registration

See also: Online voter registration

Georgia has implemented an online voter registration system. Residents can register to vote by visiting this website.

Same-day registration

Georgia does not allow same-day voter registration.

Residency requirements

To register to vote in Georgia, you must be a resident of the state. State law does not specify a length of time for which you must have been a resident to be eligible.

Verification of citizenship

See also: Laws permitting noncitizens to vote in the United States

A Georgia state law, passed in 2009, required voters to provide proof of U.S. citizenship when registering to vote. However, as of June 2025, the law had not been implemented.

In 2013, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that states cannot require proof of citizenship with federal registration forms. That meant states would need to create a separate registration system for state elections in order to require proof of citizenship.

In Georgia, an individual must attest that they are a U.S. citizen when registering to vote. According to the state's voter registration application, a voter who provides false information on a voter registration application is guilty of a felony.

All 49 states with voter registration systems require applicants to declare that they are U.S. citizens in order to register to vote in state and federal elections, under penalty of perjury or other punishment. Seven states — Alabama, Arizona, Georgia, Kansas, Louisiana, New Hampshire, and Wyoming — have laws requiring verification of citizenship at the time of voter registration, whether in effect or not. In three states — California, Maryland, and Vermont — at least one local jurisdiction allows noncitizens to vote in some local elections. Noncitizens registering to vote in those elections must complete a voter registration application provided by the local jurisdiction and are not eligible to register as state or federal voters.

Verifying your registration

The site My Voter Page, run by the Georgia Secretary of State's office, allows residents to check their voter registration status online.

Voter ID requirements

Georgia requires voters to present photo identification while voting in person or by mail/absentee.

The following list of accepted ID was current as of August 2024. Click here for the Georgia Secretary of State's page on accepted ID to ensure you have the most current information.

“

Any valid state or federal government-issued photo ID, including a free ID card issued by your county registrar's office or the Georgia Department of Driver Services. A Georgia driver's license, even if expired Student ID from a Georgia public College or University Valid employee photo ID from any branch, department, agency, or entity of the U.S. Government, Georgia, or any county, municipality, board, authority or other entity of this state Valid U.S. passport ID Valid U.S. military photo ID containing a photograph of the voter Valid tribal photo ID containing a photograph of the voter

”

Voters can obtain a free voter ID card from any county registrar's office or Department of Driver Services Office. Click here for more information on obtaining a free voter ID card in Georgia.

See also

2024 measures

• 2024 ballot measures
• Taxes on the ballot
• Property on the ballot

Georgia

• Georgia ballot measures
• Georgia ballot measure laws

News and analysis

• Ballot measure lawsuits
• Ballot measure readability
• Ballot measure polls

External links

• House Resolution 1022