Several pieces of local legislation pertaining to Henry County were considered during the recently concluded session of the Georgia General Assembly with varying results.
A bill that would create a referendum to potentially change the size of Stockbridge passed both the House and Senate. In its original form, Senate Bill 612 would have allowed for the city to possibly double in size, but a variety of feedback led the bill’s sponsors to make some changes that now see just over 6,000 residents potentially affected.
The annexation of this new property into Stockbridge would be decided by a voter referendum this fall, with voters in the affected areas making the decision at the polls. If approved, the move would also divide the city into separate districts. That would change City Council elections, which have traditionally been at-large.
Locust Grove will also likely have a referendum this fall, with the question being a homestead exemption. A bill introduced in the State House by Reps. El-Mahdi Holly and David Knight passed the House and Senate so that city residents can vote on whether to provide a homestead exemption for 100 percent of their assessed home values.
If approved, the referendum would mean homeowners would pay zero property tax on the homes in which they live, should the city ever decide to implement a property tax, which it currently does not. The bill awaits Gov. Brian Kemp’s signature, as does SB 612.
A bill sponsored by Sens. Emanuel Jones and Brian Strickland would have possibly had a significant impact on the Henry County Board of Commissioners, had it passed. As it turned out, SB 639 was not voted on in the House before the end of the session.
Had it passed, it would have placed restrictions on the commissioners regarding how many regular meetings they could miss. A few meetings in the past six months have been marked by absences from three commissioners, forcing meetings to be canceled due to lack of a quorum, with no reason given for the absences.
Another bill introduced by Jones and Strickland, SB 635, proposed an adjustment in the annual salary of the county’s probate judge, tying it to 90 percent of a Flint Circuit Superior Court judge’s salary. That measure passed both houses.
