Description
House Bill 870 will be on the November 4, 2025, election ballot. What is HB 870 and who does it affect and what steps should residents take now? Communications Administrator Valerie L. Fuller and Tax Commissioner Danielle Smith share the details in this edition of the Clayton connected Podcast.
Transcript
Valerie Fuller (Intro):
You’re tuned in to the Clayton Connected Podcast in Clayton County, where the world lands and opportunities take off.
Valerie:
Welcome to the Clayton Connected podcast. I’m your hostess Valerie Fuller, Communications Administrator in the Office of Communications in the Clayton Connected Podcast Studio. Today, we have none other than Tax Commissioner Danielle Smith. Welcome!
Danielle Smith:
Hey! Hey Valerie!
Valerie:
She’s back you guys! She’s back!
Danielle:
I’m back!
Valerie:
So today we are kicking off our awareness campaign for House Bill 870, which is our property tax relief bill for Clayton County citizens. So Ms. Danielle, tell us how House Bill 870 came about. Like, how do we get to House Bill 870? In reference of the form of tax relief.
Danielle:
So, this all started with another piece of legislation, HB 581. A lot of folks know what HB 581 was all about. There were plenty of meetings and all kinds of stuff about HB 581, town halls, etc. but in short, that was property tax relief as well. But it’s state mandated.
Valerie:
Right.
Danielle:
Our Board of Commissioners came together and drafted a piece of legislation that would be our own local legislation, not mandated by the state, so they would have better control to meet the needs of Clayton County residents.
Valerie:
Absolutely.
Danielle:
And so, yeah.
Valerie:
Just, just a round of applause for our Clayton County Board of Commissioners, who are always looking for better resources and ways to provide for our citizens who are in need. So, thank you.
Danielle:
Yes. Yes, indeed. And so this piece of legislation is beneficial, like you said to our residents.
Valerie:
Right. So, with House Bill 870, we know our governor, Brian Kemp, has signed on this bill. And so now we move to Election Day, which is November 4th.
Danielle:
Yes.
Valerie:
Tuesday, November 4th, where our citizens in Clayton County will actually have the opportunity to actually vote for or against.
Danielle:
Yes.
Valerie:
This particular bill. So who’s eligible? Who is the target audience for this House bill 870.
Danielle:
Good question. So, HB 870 will not be for all residents. It’s only for specific categories of residents within Clayton. Our board deemed these are more at-risk categories. Right? So, for example, our disabled veterans, senior citizens, unremarried surviving spouses of firefighters or peace officers killed in the line of duty, or those who are just 100% disabled individual. Those are the categories of folks that will be covered by age 70 if it’s voted in. Of those categories, one, our seniors, has an age requirement. All of our seniors, you have to be 65 years old or older on January 1st of any given year. And with any of these categories, you have to already have a homestead exemption on your property. Okay. This has to be your primary residence. It’s not for investment properties or anything else. This applies to those who already have homestead exemptions.
Valerie:
And you may be you may fall into the category where you meet more than one eligibility, but you’re only going to be able to take advantage of one of the eligibility criteria. Correct?
Danielle:
Yeah, I mean and there are certain instances some of our seniors receive double homestead exemptions. And so, there are a variety of exemptions. It just depends on what you’re eligible for. But I’m glad you spoke to that. None of HB 870 will remove anything that you already have in place.
Valerie:
Very important.
Danielle:
Okay? Your homestead exemption is not going anywhere. I have to tell folks that all the time. Valerie:
Right.
Danielle:
This will not remove anything you already have in place. Okay?
Valerie:
So, we are also planning educational sessions where people will actually have an opportunity throughout the month of, part of September, definitely October. We’re going to have some educational sessions leading up to this in each district where the public can come out. We want you to be informed. We want you to be educated on what House Bill 870 is. This podcast is just one of those channels that we’re using. So we want you to look for signage around the county.
Danielle:
Yes.
Valerie:
Advertising the dates and times and locations, but what are some action steps that would be taken? Let’s say November 4th comes and this bill actually passes. What steps or what action would citizens need to take, if any?
Danielle:
So, I’ll say this. It depends on the resident, right? So, this is for those who already have homestead exemptions in place. If, for example, and it’ll be great because the legislation goes into effect during homestead season. Right? The normal homestead season is from January 1 to April 1. Really January 2 because none of us are here on January 1. But January 2nd through April 1st is the window to apply for homestead exemptions for those who already have a homestead exemption prior to this election. If this legislation passes in November, you don’t have to do anything. This exemption is automatically going to apply to those parcels that already have those homestead exemptions in place, and you fall in one of these categories.
Valerie:
Right. And this is your actual home where you reside…
Danielle:
Primary residence. But I will say, even if you already have a homestead, senior exemption, veteran exemption, what have you, if you already fall into one of those categories, I highly advise that you contact us January 2nd or soon thereafter to make sure all of your homestead exemption information is properly applied to you.
Valerie:
And that’s contact the Tax Commissioner’s office directly?
Danielle:
Yes. Phone number (770) 477-3311. Call (770) 477-3311. But I highly advise, even if you already have a homestead exemption call to verify that your exemption is in place and that you are in order with HB 870 that you don’t need to submit any further information. If you don’t currently have a homestead, but you do own a home in Clayton County and that’s your primary residence, even if it’s after April 1, you can call tomorrow. Whenever you see this podcast….
Valerie:
Right.
Danielle:
Call the office! And if you don’t currently have your homestead applied, do it. It’ll go into effect automatically next year.
Valerie:
So, another action that people can take and that we encourage you to take right now, another action step you can do is ensure that you are registered to vote.
Danielle:
Yes.
Valerie:
Mvp.sos.ga.gov That’s My Voter Page. We know that there are some purging of, voter registration records. Even if you voted in the last election or previous election, you still want to make sure that you are a registered voter and so go to My Voter Page.
Danielle:
And the benefit to that is knowing your polling site. Sometimes people move.
Valerie:
That’s true.
Danielle:
And they don’t realize that they need to update that information.
Valerie:
That’s Right.
Danielle:
So that’s another piece of advice. If you’ve moved, maybe you still live in Clayton County, but you live in a different area now of Clayton County. You need to make sure you know where your polling site is as well.
Valerie:
Ahead of time.
Danielle:
Yeah. Don’t wait till the last minute.
Valerie:
And so again, the election date is Tuesday, November 4th. But there’s also early registration days. Right?
Danielle:
So early registration starts I mean early registration I was thinking about voter registration. When’s the voter registration deadline again?
Valerie:
October 6th is the voter registration. In order to vote in the election, you must be registered to vote by October 6th.
Danielle:
And you can do it online.
Valerie:
Absolutely.
Danielle:
So just do it and make sure that your stuff is in place.
Valerie:
That part. And then we have the early voting days.
Danielle:
Yes. Now that starts October 14th through October 31st and then the election is on November 4th.
Valerie:
Right. So plenty of time.
Danielle:
Yes.
Valerie:
To get registered to vote, if you’re not registered already or to make sure that you’re still on the voter registration roll, you have the early voting dates that will be forthcoming in October through the end of October, as well as the actual election day, which is November 4th. So
Danielle:
Yes
Valerie:
Make sure you register.
Danielle:
Yes. Definitely.
Valerie:
So what else do you want to share with the target audience or with citizens in general? About the Tax Commissioner’s office, because this is just one thing that we’re doing.
Danielle:
Right.
Valerie:
Ms. Danielle Smith is busy. She has meetings all the time for the best interest of our citizens.
Danielle:
Yep. The other thing, Val, you know, this is something we do every third Thursday. I have a webinar. It’s “Your Time with the Tax Commissioner” and we talk about things just like this. We talk about upcoming legislation or the tax situation, we answer questions not just for property tax; motor vehicle information as well, or business taxes or what have you. And so it’s a wonderful platform where we can answer your specific questions about property tax relief bills or anything of that sort.
Danielle (cont.):
The other thing I want us not to forget is this particular HB 870 is for a season. Unlike your regular homestead exemption, once that regular homestead exemption; your senior exemption, veteran’s exemption would have you, is applied to your property, it’s there for the lifetime of your ownership of that property. But HB 870 is not. That’s for four years. So as long as it’s voted in in November, it’ll go into effect January 1, 2026 until December 31st, 2030. So that will be for four years and then it’ll fall off. Okay?
Valerie:
So that’s the difference between the regular homestead in this House. Bill 870 we don’t want you to miss. This is good information. And the other thing I want to encourage people to do is go to claytocountyga.gov. We hear a lot of people say, ‘you know, oh, I didn’t know. I wasn’t informed,’ you know, but what are you doing about it. So we want people to sign up for our external newsletters, all of the information and things that are submitted that are happening with the Clayton County Board of Commissioners, throughout the courts, our police department, fire department, Tax Commissioner’s office, all the way down to the Solicitor General, Sheriff’s office, every, we have a newsletter that people can subscribe to to get the information. So, we want people to stop this rhetoric about not knowing and to be informed and to be engaged and to take, self accountability, if you will, as a citizen, to know what’s happening in your county and what things are benefiting you and what things are affecting…
Danielle:
And follow us all on social media, it’s a digital age. Everybody’s information is out there. We, I mean, it’s almost information overload. You know, we keep you abreast of events that are going on as well. And so those town halls are going to be important.
Valerie:
Right. And so you can look for those signage. You can look for those fliers in the information out on social media, along the roadways, in our senior centers, our libraries and recreation centers, on the monitors all throughout. But the best thing to do is subscribe to a newsletter, you know, follow us on social media. And please don’t forget about claytoncountyga.gov, where you can find all the government information, related to Clayton County government sector.
Danielle:
Yes.
Valerie:
All right. So with that, we look forward to seeing you at one of the town hall meetings. And I thank our, Tax Commissioner Ms. Danielle Smith, for joining us today. And know that she will be back soon.
Danielle:
Any time.
Valerie:
Thank you.
Valerie (outro):
I’m your hostess is Valerie Fuller. Thank you for listening to the Clayton connected Podcast. In Clayton County, Georgia, where the world lands and opportunities take off.