District 2 At-Large Fulton County Commissioner Robb Pitts said a bill to increase the county’s homestead tax exemption would be “devastating.”
Pitts attended the Buckhead Council of Neighborhoods meeting on Feb. 7 and addressed several pieces of legislation being introduced in the state General Assembly this year. The proposals target different aspects of county government, including removal of a merit-based hiring system to an at-will hiring system for employees and changing the makeup of the county’s library board.
Pitts said he was most worried about the homestead tax exemption bill which would increase the exemption from $30,000 to $60,000. Estimates vary on the impact, but Pitts said it would cut $50 million out of the county’s budget.
Here is what he had to say about the north Fulton state legislative delegation’s plans for Fulton:
On Feb. 11, Rep. Jan Jones, R-Milton, speaker pro tem of the House, reintroduced legislation to create Milton County, an idea that so far hasn’t appeared likely to pass numerous legal hurdles. Rep. Wendell Willard, R-Sandy Springs and other representatives were also expected to introduce similar resolutions, according to a press release from the House Communications Office.
Milton County would be comprised of northern cities in Fulton County, leaving county government with Atlanta and the southern part of the county.
“We are committed to a more accountable county government that satisfactorily performs only the services that are necessary and no more,” Jones said in a press release. “I believe significant reform of Fulton County this year and a continued push to re-create Milton County will deliver it.”