Have you been hearing about the GREAT Plan for Georgia, HR 900 or tax reform? There have been articles in the newspapers, discussion and presentations by various organizations and presenters around the state, and lots of buzz in general. What is it? The Speaker of the House has proposed the GREAT Plan (Georgia's Repeal of Every Ad Valorem Tax) which would get rid of all ad valorem (property) taxes and replace that revenue by repealing most of the existing sales tax exemptions on things like food, medical prescriptions and services, legal services, tuition, haircuts, etc. Georgia PTA has posted detailed information on the Georgia PTA website under Capitol Watch regarding the proposal as well as a worksheet that you can download and use to determine whether you'd be better or worse off under this new plan.
One area that would be worse off is our schools.
- Every local school district would be wholly dependent on the State for funding with no ability to raise funds except through a SPLOST (Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax) and with the sales tax rate likely to raise, voters will be less inclined to support this.
- All those extras your school district provides because the local constituents want them (extra bus transportation, teacher supplements, new textbooks, support for fine arts, etc.) would no longer have funding.
County governments (providing things like public safety, jails, parks, road improvements, etc.) would also be wholly dependent on the State for funding. The implications are huge. Click here to read an article that explains this issue in greater detail then download it and put it in your school PTA newsletter. It needs to be in every PTA newsletter so that we can raise awareness of this issue. The article has specific areas that should be customized for your school district but most of the information it contains is relevant to every school district throughout Georgia.
Georgia PTA is part of a coalition fighting this proposal. At the October Georgia PTA Board meeting, the Board of Directors passed a resolution opposing the elimination of property taxes and supporting local control. If our locally elected officials cannot control the purse strings why do we have them? We want local officials making the decisions that effect our local communities.
Karen Hallacy, Georgia PTA Legislative Chair