HB399.html

(a) As used in this Act, the term:
(1) "Ad valorem taxes for educational purposes" means all ad valorem taxes for educational purposes levied by, for, or on behalf of the Randolph County school district, including, but not limited to, ad valorem taxes to pay interest on and to retire county school district bonded indebtedness.
(2) "Homestead" means homestead as defined and qualified in Code Section 48_5_40 of the O.C.G.A., as amended, with the additional qualification that it shall include only the primary residence and not more than five contiguous acres of land immediately surrounding such residence.
(3) "Senior citizen" means a person who is 62 years of age or over on or before January 1 of the year in which application for the exemption under this Act is made.
(b) Each resident of the Randolph County school district who is a senior citizen is granted an exemption on that person´s homestead from all Randolph County school district ad valorem taxes for educational purposes in the amount of the full value of that homestead.
(c) A person shall not receive the homestead exemption granted by subsection (b) of this section unless the person or person´s agent files an application with the tax commissioner of Randolph County giving the person´s age and such additional information relative to receiving such exemption as will enable the tax commissioner to make a determination regarding the initial and continuing eligibility of such owner for such exemption. The tax commissioner shall provide application forms for this purpose.
(d) The exemption shall be claimed and returned as provided in Code Section 48_5_50.1 of the O.C.G.A., as amended. The exemption shall be automatically renewed from year to year as long as the owner occupies the residence as a homestead. After a person has filed the proper application as provided in subsection (c) of this section, it shall not be necessary to make application thereafter for any year, and the exemption shall continue to be allowed to such person. It shall be the duty of any person granted the homestead exemption under this Act to notify the tax commissioner of Randolph County in the event that person for any reason becomes ineligible for that exemption.
(e) The exemption granted by subsection (b) of this section shall not apply to or affect any state ad valorem taxes, county ad valorem taxes for county purposes, municipal ad valorem taxes for municipal purposes, or independent school district ad valorem taxes for educational purposes. The homestead exemption granted by subsection (b) of this section shall be in lieu of and not in addition to any other homestead exemption applicable to Randolph County school district ad valorem taxes for educational purposes.
(f) The exemption granted by this Act shall apply to all taxable years beginning on or after January 1, 2005.

Unless prohibited by the federal Voting Rights Act of 1965, as amended, the election superintendent of Randolph County shall call and conduct an election as provided in this section for the purpose of submitting this Act to the electors of the Randolph County school district for approval or rejection. The election superintendent shall conduct that election on the date of the general primary in 2004 and shall issue the call and conduct that election as provided by general law. The superintendent shall cause the date and purpose of the election to be published once a week for two weeks immediately preceding the date thereof in the official organ of Randolph County. The ballot shall have written or printed thereon the words:

All persons desiring to vote for approval of the Act shall vote "Yes," and those persons desiring to vote for rejection of the Act shall vote "No." If more than one_half of the votes cast on such question are for approval of the Act, Section 1 of this Act shall become of full force and effect on January 1, 2005. If the Act is not so approved or if the election is not conducted as provided in this section, Section 1 of this Act shall not become effective and this Act shall be automatically repealed on the first day of January immediately following that election date. The expense of such election shall be borne by Randolph County. It shall be the election superintendent´s duty to certify the result thereof to the Secretary of State.