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Newton County Board of Commissioners appears poised to let HB581 take effect
BOCmeeting

NEWTON COUNTY – In an interesting revelation, the Newton County Board of Commissioners (BOC) appears to be leaning towards allowing House Bill 581 (HB581) to go into effect in Newton County.

At the Wednesday, Jan. 29 special called meeting – a makeup for the Jan. 21 regularly scheduled meeting that was canceled due to the snowy weather – most of the commissioners plainly declared their position on HB581, with only Demond Mason (District 2) refraining from taking a clear stance.

The end of BOC meetings allots time for public comments, followed by commissioner comments. Though HB581 was not an agenda item last night, four separate citizens dedicated portions of their podium time to speaking about the looming tax bill.

Speakers included the former District 3 Commissioner Alana Sanders, frequent citizen commenter Dave Norton of Newborn, as well as Dennis Taylor and James Peterson.

Taylor pointed out that the citizens of Newton County passed the ballot measure in November 2024, and he argues that the people will be understanding of increases to counter potential tax loss, such as the potential need to raise the millage rate.

“House Bill 581 passed by a landslide in every district, every precinct in Newton County,” Taylor said. “People understand the necessity of millage rates increases. We had them for ten straight years and no commissioner was voted out. Anybody who chose to run again were re-elected. So they understand if you had to make a millage rate change.”

District 1 Commissioner Stan Edwards echoed the possibility of millage rate increases and said that he is leaning towards voting to remain opted into the homestead exemption.

“Mr. Taylor hit on the millage rate,” Edwards said. “There's a perception out there when your tax or your property value is frozen that your taxes will never go up, well that’s just simply not the case. They could go down, but more than likely they're going up. I think it's important we know, no matter what your home value is, we as commissioners have to adjust that multiplier – that millage rate – to bring in the amount of money we need. So if your home value goes down, we’ve still got to probably go up on the millage rate to offset that decrease.”

But Taylor expressed confidence in the board’s capabilities to develop tax solutions, referencing past decades of boards that have overcome obstacles.

“The concept that maybe we can't get through the hard times, the past board – many of y’all were on it – managed us through COVID,” Taylor said. “Nothing had to be shut down. Everything kept running. Safety departments kept running. Way back in 2007, 2008, that board got us through that big downturn, huge downturn…Don't never [sic] doubt what you can do in crisises [sic].”

District 3 Commissioner Stephanie Lindsey definitively said she wants to vote to let HB581 take effect in Newton County, but that she has not forgotten about senior taxation issues and is passionate about devoting more efforts to creating senior tax relief.

“I like what Mr. Taylor said when he said that, you know, that we've been through crises before and we worked together as a board, and because we worked together as a board we were able to get through those crises,” Lindsey said. “That’s the only reason – the only reason – I'm supporting HB581. So I'm saying it for the record: I'm supporting HB581. 

I think that that is something that we should do. I don't like the fact that we’re going to be stuck in it, but in the spirit of what Mr. Taylor said, I believe that we can work together to figure out how we can maneuver through any issues that we may have going forward. So Commissioner Stephanie Lindsey of District 3 has said ‘I support it,’ but you also have to take into consideration, I’m also supporting [reducing] senior taxation.”

Commissioner J.C. Henderson (District 4) also expressed his inclination to let the bill take effect in Newton County. 

“I'm sure that a lot of people knew exactly what was on the ballot,” Henderson said. “They know. And when they went out and voted for it, guess what? They voted for what they wanted for and how they wanted our county to be ran. I agree with Commissioner Stephanie Lindsey that we need to vote it in.”

Henderson also expressed his desire to provide tax relief to senior citizens.

“And our seniors,” Henderson said. “You know, we have done the home repair and let us not mess this up too for our seniors. This county, this government is going to continue to grow and the bills will continue to be paid. So let's do what’s right by our citizens of Newton County.”

District 5 Commissioner LeAnne Long was also in support of HB581.

“We might not even have those meetings [the public hearings required to opt out] because I am going to vote to stay in it,” Long said. “It's a balancing act. It's going to be very hard, it’s going to be very hard for this board. And I agree with Commissioner Edwards, that millage rate is probably going to go up.”

Chairman Marcello Banes ended the meeting with clarification on the potential public hearings and the legal notices that would advertise them. 

The legal notices posted online and ran in The Covington News are required to include specific jargon that says the board (or any other governing body acting on HB581) is declaring its ‘intent to opt out of homestead exemption.’ The board can choose to hold the meetings for the sake of facilitating public participation and then vote to let HB581 take effect anyway. 

If the board chooses to hold the hearings, the legal notice may read “The Newton County Board of Commissioners intends to opt out of the statewide adjusted base year ad valorem homestead exemption…” which may not accurately reflect the board’s intentions.

“When we start advertising for these meetings, I think we’re putting a false perception out there that the board is inclined to opt out of this 581,” Banes said. “I think you're going to have people who actually voted for 581, they're going to be upset, they're going to come in here upset thinking that we are about to opt out of something. So I want y'all to reconsider those meetings. I really don't think we need to have those meetings if we’re going to stay in. I think we just need to stay in if we're going to stay in.”

The board has not formally voted on whether to stay in or opt out of HB581. As of press time, The News has not received any legal notice or communications from the county about scheduling public hearings.

Most other governing entities have scheduled public hearings to begin the opt out process. Specifically, the Newton County Board of Education and the city of Oxford have seemed most intent on actually opting out of the bill, though this remains subject to change. Covington, Newborn and Social Circle have also scheduled their public hearings, but their leanings on the bill are unknown.

Porterdale has not released its stance on the bill, making Mansfield and the BOC the only two bodies to have clearly indicated a strong desire to let HB581 take effect, though neither body has formally declared its plans.