EDITORIAL: Pay attention to amendments proposals on this year’s ballot

Published 4:50 pm Thursday, October 20, 2022

In addition to the list of candidates on the general election ballot, voters are also weighing in on constitutional amendments.

Voters should review these questions ahead of time to plan and prepare before casting their ballots. 

Amendment question No. 1: “Shall the Constitution of Georgia be amended so as to suspend the compensation of the Governor, Lieutenant Governor, Secretary of State, Attorney General, State School Superintendent, Commissioner of Insurance, Commissioner of Agriculture, Commissioner of Labor, or any member of the General Assembly while such individual is suspended from office following indictment for a felony?”

The origins of this question date back to the 2019 indictment of Georgia’s former insurance commissioner Jim Beck, who continued collecting his taxpayer-funded salary even after his indictment. If voters support this amendment by voting yes, it would close the loophole allowing them to still get paid their salaries Statewide elected officials and members of the General Assembly would be prohibited from getting paid if they receive a felony indictment and/or suspended from public office. 

Amendment question No. 2: “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?”

This question will decide whether or not cities, counties and local school districts should be allowed to temporarily exempt victims of natural disasters such as tornadoes or hurricanes from paying property taxes. Two other ballot questions contain tax exemptions for farmers and foresters.

The two other question on the ballot deal with ad valorem taxes, or taxes paid each year on property and equipment. 

The first reads: “Shall the Act be approved which grants a state-wide exemption from all ad valorem taxes for certain equipment used by timber producers in the production or harvest of timber?”

If voters support this measure by voting yes, it would would allow a property tax exemption for certain timber production, reforestation and harvesting equipment in the timber industry. Georgia is the No. 1 forestry state in the nation, leading all states in commercially available timberland with 22 million acres, tops in the volume of timber harvested each year, and tops in forest product exports with an estimated annual trade value of $3.9 billion, according to the Georgia Forestry Association.

In a recent interview with Capitol Beat reporting, Matt Hestad, vice president of engagement for the forestry association said that the tax exemption would include not only the heavy equipment used to harvest timber but also the tractors used in planting trees for reforestation.

The second question asks voters: “Shall the Act be approved which expands a state-wide exemption from ad valorem taxes for agricultural equipment and certain farm products held by certain entities to include entities comprising two or more family owned farm entities, and which adds dairy products and unfertilized eggs of poultry as qualified farm products with respect to such exemption?”

Voting yes on this measure would expand the ad valorem tax exemption for family-owned farms and adds qualified products to the exemption. It would allow the existing property tax exemption for agricultural equipment to also be applied to equipment shared by two or more family farms.

Read these ballot questions closely before deciding. Although they don’t get the attention or grab the headlines that the high-stakes races on this year’s ballot are getting, these constitutional questions should not be glossed over as they have significant implications for families, farmers and every taxpayer in our state.