Georgia Amendment 2, Temporary Property Tax Change for Disaster Areas Measure (2022)

Georgia Amendment 2
Election date November 8, 2022
Topic Taxes and Property
Status a Approved
Type Constitutional amendment	Origin State legislature

Georgia Amendment 2, the Temporary Property Tax Change for Disaster Areas Measure, was on the ballot in Georgia as a legislatively referred constitutional amendment on November 8, 2022. The measure was approved.

A "yes" vote supported authorizing local governments "to grant temporary tax relief," with additional details to be defined in statute, to properties that are damaged or destroyed due to a disaster and located within a nationally declared disaster area.

A "no" vote opposed authorizing local governments "to grant temporary tax relief," as defined, to properties that are damaged or destroyed due to a disaster and located within a nationally declared disaster area.

Election results

Georgia Amendment 2
Result		Votes	Percentage
Yes		3,532,212	91.85%
No		313,308	8.15%

Results are officially certified.

Source

Overview

What did Amendment 2 do?

See also: Ballot language and constitutional changes

The ballot measure authorized local governments "to grant temporary tax relief," with additional details to be defined in statute, to properties that are damaged or destroyed due to a disaster and located within a nationally declared disaster area.

Why was this measure on the ballot?

See also: Support and Coweta County tornado, 2021

State Rep. Lynn Smith (R) sponsored the constitutional amendment after an EF-4 tornado hit Coweta County in March 2021. Coweta County homeowners had to pay property taxes on 1,726 homes that were destroyed or damaged. Rep. Smith said officials in the city of Newnan "wanted to be able to give some tax relief in 2021" but were not able to do so.

The amendment was passed unanimously by both chambers of the Georgia State Legislature. State Rep. Lynn Smith said the amendment "provides this option to communities who may face the same devastation that Coweta County did last year. It still breaks my heart that federal funding was denied for individuals, but HR 594 would allow local governments to step in and provide an alternative pathway to direct relief for citizens in the future, especially if the federal government in Washington fails to do so."

Text of measure

Ballot question

The ballot question was as follows:

“

Shall the Constitution of Georgia be amended so as to provide that the governing authority of each county, municipality, and consolidated government and the board of education of each independent and county school system in this state shall be authorized to grant temporary tax relief to properties within its jurisdiction which are severely damaged or destroyed as a result of a disaster and located within a nationally declared disaster area?

”

Constitutional changes

See also: Article VII, Georgia_Constitution

The ballot measure amended Section 1, Paragraph III of 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.

SECTION 1.

(a) All taxes shall be levied and collected under general laws and for public purposes only. Except as otherwise provided in subparagraphs (b), (c), (d), (e), and (f), and (h) of this Paragraph, all taxation shall be uniform upon the same class of subjects within the territorial limits of the authority levying the tax.

...

(h) The governing authority of each county, municipality, and consolidated government and the board of education of each independent and county school system in this state shall be authorized to grant temporary tax relief to properties within its jurisdiction which are severely damaged or destroyed as a result of a disaster and which are located within a nationally declared disaster area. The General Assembly shall provide by general law for the eligibility, procedures for obtaining, and all other matters regarding such temporary tax relief.

Readability score

See also: Ballot measure readability scores, 2022

Using the Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level (FKGL) and Flesch Reading Ease (FRE) formulas, Ballotpedia scored the readability of the ballot title and summary 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 34, and the FRE is -24. The word count for the ballot title is 70.

The FKGL for the ballot summary is grade level 13, and the FRE is 19. The word count for the ballot summary is 8.

Support

Supporters

Officials

• State Rep. Shaw Blackmon (R)
• State Rep. Kasey Carpenter (R)
• State Rep. John Carson (R)
• State Rep. Matt Dollar (R)
• State Rep. David Knight (R)
• State Rep. Lynn Smith (R)

Arguments

• State Rep. Lynn Smith: "House Resolution 594 provides the rare opportunity to look past our political differences to love our neighbors greater than ourselves. I want to thank my colleagues in the Georgia House for unanimously choosing to provide this option to communities who may face the same devastation that Coweta County did last year. It still breaks my heart that federal funding was denied for individuals, but HR 594 would allow local governments to step in and provide an alternative pathway to direct relief for citizens in the future, especially if the federal government in Washington fails to do so."

Opposition

If you are aware of any opponents or opposing arguments, please send an email with a link to editor@ballotpedia.org.

Campaign finance

See also: Campaign finance requirements for Georgia ballot measures

	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

Ballotpedia has not identified political action committees registered to support or oppose this measure. If you are aware of one, please email editor@ballotpedia.org.

Background

Property tax in Georgia

Properties in Georgia are assessed at 40% of fair market value. For example, a home with a fair market value of $100,000 would be assessed at $40,000, minus any exemptions. The taxable value of the property is taxed at millage rates set by counties. Mills are equal to $1 per every $1,000 of a home's assessed value. As of 2021, the average property tax payment was $1,771 (compared to the $2,578 national average) and the average effective property tax rate was 0.87%.

The following map shows the average effective property tax rate, median home value, and median annual property tax payment in Georgia by county.

Coweta County tornado, March 2021

An EF-4 tornado hit Coweta County on March 25 and 26, 2021, with winds gusting between 166-200 miles per hour. The last EF-4 tornado to hit Georgia in April 2011. Georgia has had 10 EF-4 tornados since 1950.

State Rep. Lynn Smith (R-Newnan) sponsored the constitutional amendment after the Coweta County tornadoes of March 2021. Coweta County homeowners had to pay property taxes on 1,726 homes that were destroyed or damaged. Smith said officials in the city of Newnan "wanted to be able to give some tax relief in 2021," but were not able to do so.

On July 1, 2021, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) denied funding for individual assistance in the county. FEMA said the damage in Coweta County “was not of severity and magnitude to individuals and households" to qualify for individual assistance funding. According to the Georgia Office of Insurance, over 16,000 insurance claims were filed totaling $200 million. According to FEMA, 31% of Coweta residents did not have insurance coverage.

Referred measures on the ballot in Georgia

• A total of 84 measures appeared on the statewide ballot in Georgia from 1996 to 2020.
• From 1996 through 2020, the number of measures on statewide ballots during even-numbered years ranged from two to 12.
• From 1996 through 2020, an average of seven measures appeared on the ballot in Georgia during even-numbered election years.
• Between 1996 and 2020, about 85.5% (71 of 84) of the total number of measures that appeared on statewide ballots during even-numbered years were approved, and about 15.5% percent (13 of 84) were defeated.

Georgia statewide ballot measures during even-numbered election years, 1996-2020
Total number	Approved	Percent approved	Defeated	Percent defeated	Annual average	Annual minimum	Annual maximum
84	71	84.5%	13	15.5%	7	2	12

Path to the ballot

See also: Amending the Georgia Constitution

In Georgia, a constitutional amendment requires a two-thirds vote in both chambers of the Georgia State Legislature.

The constitutional amendment was introduced into the Georgia State Legislature as House Resolution 594 (HR 594). On March 11, 2022, the Georgia House of Representatives approved the measure in a vote of 150 to 0, with 29 members not voting or absent. On April 1, 2022, the Georgia State Senate passed the bill by a vote of 55-0 with one member excused.

Vote in the Georgia House of Representatives March 11, 2022
Requirement: Two-thirds (66.67 percent) vote of all members in each chamber
Number of yes votes required: 100  a
	Yes	No	Not voting
Total	150	0	29
Total percent	83.80%	0.00%	16.20%
Democrat	56	0	21
Republican	94	0	8

Vote in the Georgia State Senate April 1, 2022
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	55	0	1
Total percent	98.21%	0.00%	1.79%
Democrat	22	0	0
Republican	33	0	1

How to cast a vote

See also: Voting in Georgia

Click "Show" to learn more about voter registration, identification requirements, and poll times in Georgia.

How to cast a 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 requirements 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 See also: Automatic voter registration In Georgia, eligible voters are automatically registered to vote when they conduct transactions at the Department of Driver Services. The eligible voter may opt-out of registration. 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, a voter must be a resident of the state, and of the county in which they are registering. 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 September 2025, the law had not been implemented. 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. One state, Ohio, requires proof of citizenship only when registering to vote at a Bureau of Motor Vehicles facility. 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 GA 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 October 2025. 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

2022 measures

• 2022 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

• Georgia House Resolution 594 (2022)