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Tax break for seniors could hurt Georgia schools

280 views · Published 26 April 2013 · 1:08 · Indexed 27 October 2026

Channel: chattanooga times free press · 2013 · News & Politics

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Across the state line, many senior citizens in North Georgia have been exempted from paying school property tax on their homes, and now that break could be hurting local schools.
It's been about a decade since Dade County voters decided to exempt residents 65 and older from the tax. Since then, close to seventeen hundred homes have signed up.
Schools Superintendent Shawn Tobin says THAT costs the school district about $1.3 million dollars annually in lost revenue. That's money Tobin needs as the district faces an 18 hundred dollar increase in state health insurance this year for each bus driver and custodian.
Nearby in Whitfield County, Tax Commissioner Danny Sane is just as passionate -- but on the other side of the issue.
He says the highlight of his 20-year career was getting county voters to approve an exemption for seniors because it was quote "the right thing to do."
Currently Dade, Whitfield, Catoosa and Walker counties all offer some sort of break, but do you think senior citizens should be exempt from paying school property tax? Leave us a comment today at Facebook.com/timesfreepress.

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