Voters have the final word!

Amendments to the Constitution or a new Constitution may be proposed by the General Assembly or by a constitutional convention, as provided by this article. Only amendments which are of general and uniform applicability throughout the state shall be proposed, passed, or submitted to the people.
– Constitution of the State of Georgia, Article X, Section I, Paragraph I

Proposed Amendment: H.R. 51 Forest Land Fair Market Value Assessment, Taxation
“Shall the Constitution of Georgia be amended so as to revise provisions related to the subclassification for tax purposes of and the prescribed methodology for establishing the value of forest land conservation use property and related assistance grants, to provide that assistance grants related to forest land conservation use property may be increased by general law for a five-year period and that up to 5 percent of assistance grants may be deducted and retained by the state revenue commissioner to provide for certain state administrative costs, and to provide for the subclassification of qualified timberland property for ad valorem taxation purposes?” Yes____No____

Note: This changes the methods of assessing and taxing “forest land conservation use property.” Currently, such must exceed 200 acres. This changes the required acreage to “at least 200 acres in aggregate” in one or two counties with at least 100 acres within a county. It defines a fair market value of forest land and allows the state to tax assistance grants five-percent for administration costs. A qualified timberland property appraisal manual would be adopted. However, Department of Revenue appraisals of timberland could be appealed.

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