Staff photo of CB Schmelter / Marjorie Taylor Greene, Georgia Congressman for the 14th District, speaks during the Murray County Town Hall meeting at Cloer Barn on Wednesday March 24, 2021 in Chatsworth, Ga.
U.S. Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Rome, and her husband filed for a Georgia homestead tax break at two homes – one in Fulton County and one in Floyd County – if state law allows only one.
James Whitman, assistant principal investigator for the Fulton County Assessor’s Office’s Homestead Division, confirmed to the Times Free Press on Monday that Rep. Greene and her husband Perry Greene were applying for tax exemptions there in 2020 and again in 2021.
Danny Womack, Principal Investigator for the Floyd County Board of Assessors, confirmed Perry Greene had filed an application and received a Floyd County homestead tax exemption for the 2021 tax year.
The double-dipping was revealed by WSB Channel 2 Action News in Atlanta last week. In Fulton County, Whitman said someone in the family called on Friday to cancel filing for 2021, less than 24 hours after news of the filing was first reported. As a result, the family will pay full Fulton County taxes this year instead of receiving the reduced rate allowed for people in their primary residence.
In a statement to the Times Free Press, Rep. Greene said Georgians are concerned about their livelihoods and the safety of their families. “Still, WSB is focused on the paperwork that has been done.”
“I am a proud 14th warder,” Greene said, adding that the Atlanta TV reporter who broke the story “has his own business to deal with rather than make another pathetic attempt on me and mine To smear family. “
A basic homestead tax exemption subtracts $ 30,000 from the estimated home value used to calculate property taxes. Whitman said the fair market value of Greene’s Milton house in 2020 was $ 568,400. Georgia’s tax rate on the appraised value of a home is 40% fair market value, or $ 227,360 on Greene’s home. The $ 30,000 tax exemption is based on the estimated valuation.
The Fulton County’s millage rate in 2020 was 9,776. That would mean Greene saved about $ 300 in property taxes with the exemption, which isn’t renewed this year.
In Floyd County, the home the Greenes in Rome own had a fair market value of $ 600,095 in 2020. The amount for 2021 has not yet been finalized. The Floyd County’s exemption is $ 5,000 from the estimated value at a millage rate of 9.88, which means the homestead exemption can save the family about $ 50.
Womack said there is a homestead freeze in Floyd County protecting homeowners from increased taxes due to inflation in the years following the claim year. Fulton County applies a freeze only to residents 65 and over for its basic homestead exemptions.
“Every county is different when it comes to homesteads,” Womack said in an email. “Floyd County offers what we call homestead freezes. Floyd County only recognizes the county freeze exemption [maintenance and operations] Millage rate. It does not apply to all tax authorities. “
Whitman said Greene did not apply for homestead tax exemptions for the 2019 tax year. In the same year she moved to Rome to apply for office.
Whitman said Rep. Greene and Perry Greene told his office they tried to cancel filing for the 2021 exemption back in January and left a voicemail. Whitman said after four months it was hard to tell if the Greens actually left a message to try to cancel.
Contact Patrick Filbin at pfilbin@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6476. Follow him on Twitter @PatrickFilbin.
