ATLANTA, Ga. — Georgians casting ballots before the Nov. 3 general election will find three proposed changes to the state constitution below the governor and other statewide contests, and early voting runs through Oct. 30.
All three were sent to voters by the General Assembly. A yes majority would write each change into the constitution itself, and many counties and cities are adding their own local questions, so the full ballot will vary by address.
Amendment 1 deals with farm and timber land. Georgia lets qualifying agricultural and timber property be taxed at 40% of its value under the conservation use program, but one owner can enroll no more than 2,000 acres. The measure would double that ceiling to 4,000 acres.
Owners who join that program commit to keeping the land in farming or timber for a decade, and in return their tax bill is figured on what the land produces rather than what it could sell for. Backers pitch the bigger cap as relief for family farms, while critics argue the gain would flow mostly to large industrial operations. For scale, the Georgia Farm Bureau puts the median farm in the state at 70 acres and the mean at 253 acres.
Amendment 2 would take party labels off every probate judge race in the state. Those judges oversee wills and estates and issue marriage licenses and firearms licenses, and under the change candidates would run without a party next to their names. Most Georgia judgeships are already nonpartisan, and many counties have moved their probate races off party ballots one local bill at a time, but 53 of the 159 county probate judgeships are still filled in partisan contests.
Amendment 3 concerns emergency calls. It would let lawmakers steer certain existing revenues into a fund that does not lapse at year end and can be spent only on building out, maintaining and running 911 systems, including moves to next-generation 911 technology. The plan is to route the $1.50 monthly 911 charge already on Georgia cell phone bills into that fund to pay for the switch to internet-based dispatch, which can handle texts, photos and video along with voice calls. Some opponents worry the money could drift to other law enforcement uses.
A fourth idea, widening a homestead tax break for families of disabled veterans, is listed as not on the ballot this fall.
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Filed under: Atlanta GA Politics News
