Georgia Referendum A, Personal Property Tax Exemption Increase Measure (2024)

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Georgia Referendum A
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Election date
November 5, 2024
Topic
Taxes and Property
Status
Approveda Approved
Type
State statute
Origin
State legislature

Georgia Referendum A, the Personal Property Tax Exemption Increase Measure, was on the ballot in Georgia as a legislatively referred state statute on November 5, 2024. It was approved.

A "yes" vote supported increasing the personal property tax exemption from $7,500 to $20,000.

A "no" vote opposed increasing the personal property tax exemption from $7,500 to $20,000.


Election results

Georgia Referendum A

Result Votes Percentage

Approved Yes

3,223,888 64.48%
No 1,775,768 35.52%
Results are officially certified.
Source


Overview

What would the measure do?

See also: Text of measure

The measure increased the personal property tax exemption from $7,500 to $20,000. The exemption excludes all property owned by a taxpayer within a county (except motor vehicles, trailers, and mobile homes) with a fair market value of $20,000 or below from taxation. Personal property includes furniture, fixtures, machinery, equipment, inventory, and other property used in a business; as well as aircraft and boats owned by an individual or corporation.[1][2]

How has Georgia voted on property tax exemption measures in the past?

See also: Property tax exemption measures in Georgia

Under Section 2 of Article VII of the state constitution, property tax exemption bills require a two-thirds supermajority vote (rather than a simple majority vote) in the state legislature and must be approved by a majority of statewide voters.

In 2002, Georgia voters approved Referendum E, which increased the personal property tax exemption from $500 to $7,500.

From 2000 through 2022, 22 property tax exemption measures appeared on the statewide ballot, of which, 19 were approved and three were defeated.

Text of measure

Ballot title

The ballot title for the measure was as follows:[1]

Do you approve the Act that increases an exemption from property tax for all tangible personal property from $7,500.00 to $20,000.00?[3]

Full text

The full text of the measure can be read below. Struck-through text would be deleted and underlined text would be added:[4]

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 12, and the FRE is 45. The word count for the ballot title is 19.


Support

Supporters

Officials


Arguments

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


Opposition

Ballotpedia did not locate a campaign in opposition to the ballot measure.

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

Property tax exemptions in Georgia

The following are exempt from property taxes in Georgia:[2]

  • items of personal property used in the home if not held for sale, rental, or other commercial use;
  • all tools and implements of trade of manual laborers worth up to $2,500 in actual value;
  • domestic animals with an actual value less than $300;
  • tangible personal property that does not exceed $7,500 in value excluding motor vehicles, trailers, and mobile homes;
  • computer software when it is installed on computer hardware as an operating system;
  • certain farm products and equipment.

Referendum E, Property Tax Exemption Increase (2002)

In 2002, Georgia voters approved Referendum E with 72% of voters in favor and 28% of voters opposed. Referendum E increased the personal property tax exemption from $500 to $7,500.

Property tax exemption measures in Georgia

The measure required a two-thirds vote in the Georgia State Legislature since it was designed to create a property tax exemption. Under Section 2 of Article VII of the state constitution, property tax exemption bills require a two-thirds supermajority vote (rather than a simple majority vote) in the state legislature and must be approved by a majority of statewide voters. From 2000 through 2022, 22 property tax exemption measures appeared on the statewide ballot, of which, 19 were approved and three were defeated.[4]

2022: Two property tax exemption measures were on the 2022 ballot and both were approved. Referendum A exempted timber equipment from property taxes and the other expanded agricultural equipment exemptions.

2020: One property tax exemption measure was on the 2020 ballot. The measure, which was approved by a vote of 73% to 27%, exempted from property taxes property owned by a 501(c)(3) public charity (such as Habitat for Humanity) if the property is owned exclusively for the purpose of building or repairing single-family homes and the charity provides interest-free financing to the individual(s) purchasing the home.

2018: Two property tax exemption measures— Referendum A and Referendum B— were on the statewide ballot in 2018. Both were approved; Referendum A by a vote of 57% to 43% and Referendum B by a vote of 77% to 23%. Referendum A provided for a homestead property tax exemption in certain municipalities equal to the difference between the home's assessed value for the current year and the adjusted base year value of the home. Referendum B provided that an existing tax exemption for nonprofit housing for the mentally disabled could be applied to housing constructed or renovated through financing from businesses.

2014: Referendum 1, which was approved by voters in 2014, extended a public property ad valorem tax exemption to privately held and operated student dormitories and parking decks that are obliged by contract to serve universities within the University of Georgia system. It was approved by a vote of 74% to 26%.[5]

2010: Referendum A, approved by voters in 2010, provided that inventory of businesses is exempt from state property tax. It was approved by a vote of 54% to 46%.[6][7]

2006: Six measures were approved in 2006 that expanded homestead tax exemptions and property tax exemptions for agricultural products and farming equipment, veterans organizations, and charitable organizations.

2002: Five property tax exemption measures were on the ballot in 2002, of which three were approved. The three measures that were approved increased the tax exemption on personal property, changed the income limit for school tax homestead exemptions for individuals 62 years of age and older, and extended certain ad valorem tax exemptions to surviving spouses of military personnel killed in armed conflict.

2000: Four property tax exemption measures were on the ballot in 2000, of which three were approved. The three measures that were approved exempted certain farm equipment of family-owned farms from ad valorem taxes, increased the ad valorem tax exemption for tools and trade implements of manual laborers, and provided for homestead exemptions for un-remarried surviving spouses of military personnel killed in conflict equal to the amount a disabled veteran is entitled.

Property tax ballot measures, 2024

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


Path to the ballot

Per Article VII, Section II, Paragraph II(a) of the Georgia Constitution, legislation for property tax exemptions requires a two-thirds vote of each chamber of the Georgia State Legislature, the governor's signature, and voter approval.

The ballot measure was introduced into the state Legislature as House Bill 808 (HB 808). On February 26, 2024, the Georgia House of Representatives voted 125-42, with 11 members not voting or absent, to approve the bill. All 42 no votes came from Democratic representatives. On March 26, 2024, the Senate passed the measure in a vote of 51-0 with five members absent or not voting. It was signed by the governor on May 6, 2024.[1]

Vote in the Georgia House of Representatives
February 26, 2024
Requirement: Two-thirds (66.67 percent) vote of all members in each chamber
Number of yes votes required: 120  Approveda
YesNoNot voting
Total1254211
Total percent70.22%23.60%6.18%
Democrat28429
Republican9702

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  Approveda
YesNoNot voting
Total5105
Total percent91.07%0.00%8.93%
Democrat2003
Republican3102

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


See also

External links

Footnotes

  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 Georgia General Assembly, "HB 808," accessed February 27, 2024
  2. 2.0 2.1 Glynn Tax Office, "Personal Property," accessed March 27, 2024
  3. 3.0 3.1 Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
  4. 4.0 4.1 Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; no text was provided for refs named Text
  5. Georgia Legislature, "HB 788," accessed March 19, 2014
  6. Georgia Secretary of State, "Proposed Constitutional Amendments and State-wide Referendum Question General Election November 2, 2010," accessed November 5, 2015
  7. Georgia General Assembly, "HB 482 full text," accessed September 24, 2010
  8. State of Georgia, "Vote in Person on Election Day," accessed September 30, 2025
  9. LexisNexis, "O.C.G.A. § 21-2-403," accessed September 30, 2025
  10. 10.0 10.1 Georgia Secretary of State, "How-to Guide: Registering to Vote," accessed September 30, 2025
  11. Georgia.gov, "Register to Vote," accessed September 30, 2025
  12. LexisNexis, "O.C.G.A. § 21-2-224," accessed September 30, 2025
  13. Georgia Secretary of State, "Georgia Automatic Voter Registration Surges After Web Fix," May 24, 2022
  14. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, "Automatic registration leads to surge of new Georgia voters," April 29, 2019
  15. LexisNexis, "O.C.G.A. § 21-2-216," accessed September 30, 2025
  16. Pew Trusts, "'Proof of Citizenship' Voting Laws May Surge Under Trump," November 16, 2017
  17. Georgia Secretary of State, "Georgia Voter Registration Application," accessed September 30, 2025
  18. Under federal law, the national mail voter registration application (a version of which is in use in all states with voter registration systems) requires applicants to indicate that they are U.S. citizens in order to complete an application to vote in state or federal elections, but does not require voters to provide documentary proof of citizenship. According to the U.S. Department of Justice, the application "may require only the minimum amount of information necessary to prevent duplicate voter registrations and permit State officials both to determine the eligibility of the applicant to vote and to administer the voting process."
  19. 19.0 19.1 Georgia Secretary of State, "Georgia Voter Identification Requirements," accessed October 6, 2025
  20. [Under a 2025 law, a driver's license must be in a physical format and issued by the Department of Driver Services.]
  21. This includes colleges, universities, and technical colleges.