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stead exemption would be created, but that local governments – city, county, and board of education – had the ability to opt out of the legislation if they felt the need. Some examples of reasons to opt out which were provided by the Association of Georgia County Commissioners included the existence of a local floating homestead exemption and complications that could arise because of the differences in what makes up the county’s property digest, as the exemption draws county funding from commercial and non-homestead properties.
This amendment was passed in the state, as 62.92% of voters agreed to allow the governments to opt out of the law. In Montgomery County, voters followed this approval, as 62.52% of voters authorized the ability for governments to decide whether or not to join the exemption.
In January, the Board announced their intention to hold the public forums needed to move forward with opting out from the legislation. Citizens voiced their concerns to the Board on January 13 and 17, and met in the Board Room for one final public hearing on January 31.
Superintendent Ronda Hightower began the hearing by giving the same presentation to inform the attendees of the legislation’s content, the Board’s values, and the Board’s current financial practices. She began the forum by explaining why the Board was considering opting out, as she stated that the Board members had looked into the process of crafting a homestead exemption tailored to the needs of Montgomery County and were prepared to move forward with that endeavor. She stated that the Board was worried about the repercussions of the HB581 exemption, as the school would lose state equalization funding and would potentially pay more into the state for the running of the school. She emphasized the school’s commitment to balancing fair taxes with providing a high quality education, keeping the millage rate low, being transparent with the public about spending, and protecting the best practices in
education. She also clarified information which was shared in the previous hearings, as Hightower explained that she had clarified that a second penny of Special Local Option Sales Tax (SPLOST) could not be passed in addition to the current single penny Education Special Local Option Sales Tax (ESPLOST) to make up for the money lost from the exemption’s presence.
Hightower emphasized the importance of considering the wellbeing of the students in the decision, as she said, “We focus on doing what is best for students first and foremost. Does that mean that we do not consider what the citizens have to say? Oh goodness, no! We have to have the voice of our parents, our community members, and our other stakeholders other than our children, yes, and we value those as well. At the end of the day, when it comes down to a decision, we do have to consider students first.”
She added, “We want you involved. We consider education like a 3-legged table, and it takes the students, the parents, and the community all working together. When one of those legs of the 3-legged table is broken, the table falls. We need all of us working together.”
Public Comments
Citizen Matthew Beggarly was the first to address the Board. “The underlying factor here is that no matter what, you have the power to control your own budget and stay within your means – your decision here determines what our property taxes are in the near future. And after last year’s fiasco with [what] they tried to pull [in the County], with doubling my value with just three years – I’m a pretty smart guy, but if I knew my property value was going to double in 3 years, I’d have bought 50 houses. That’s the thing we go through in this county,” he began. “Thank you for keeping the millage rate low, but if you have to increase the millage rate to get some things, fine, but I don’t want to continue to have my county taxes [raised] by the county government, because that’s exactly what is going to be going on.”
Beggarly continued, “As Montgomery County’s largest employer, for the life of me, I cannot figure out why you have any say whatsoever on how much money you get to bring in from the county. I run a huge corporation, and I don’t get to go where the corporate office is and tell them to raise their property taxes to be able to pay me more money to be able to have my business on their property or their land.”
He emphasized that the decision regarding opting out or abiding by the homestead exemption had already been made by the county’s citizens. He also commented that the school already spent more on each student’s education than the state average, as he said, “This decision was already made by the voters. 63% of the population of this county voted to not participate in opting out. That’s a pretty overwhelming majority. Currently, our students are funded at roughly $18,000 per student. The state average is $15,000; so, we are already overfunding our students, which is excellent – thank you. We are not trying to take away from that.”
He added, “There is also a bigger problem where students that should be going to Montgomery County Schools are not going to Montgomery County Schools – they are going to Vidalia or Toombs County because they are getting exposure or more opportunities. That’s something to consider. You can’t do anything about that by opting out.”
Beggarly concluded his argument by emphasizing the importance of following the citizens’ will in the decision. “85% of the school districts are opting out because those school districts don’t want to be [forced] into staying within their budget. We’re asking you to be good financial stewards of the money that we give you, and so far, you have been. If it means changing the millage rate down the road, that’s fine. But to increase an elderly person’s property taxes to the point that they can no longer afford to live here – that is abhorrent. That is on you to be able to control that by sticking to what the people already voted for,” he said.
Citizen K.C. Seabury read a prepared statement to the Board, and began by asking that he receive an extension from the Board’s normal allotment of 5 minute per speaker. “Your guideline said that everyone gets 5 minutes right? We sat through 24 minutes and 7 seconds of your presentation – so, let that be a reflection on the fairness of this,” he told the Board.
He addressed each of the three questions in the presentation. “Three questions were left for the citizens in the Board’s presentation. First question: can we count on this legislation to be dependable for what the students, staff, and community in Montgomery County need, or do we need to write our own? In the presentation, we were told of a possible exemption. Where is this exemption so the public can see it? What does the exemption include? Or is it just a cookie being dangled down [to make the public go along with opting out]?” he asked.
Seabury also shared that the citizens had not heard from the Board members about their thoughts on the legislation, saying that the public wanted to know their perspectives.
He continued, “Question two: do voters know all the details surrounding the impact of HB581, especially the impact on the quality of education students will receive? First, what’s the inflation [rate] going to be used? What are the assessments going to do? Quality education can be done for less than what Montgomery County spends now. How much will we need in the future? Both sides of this issue have some of the same questions, and some have unique questions on each side. There are a lot of unknowns no matter which way this goes. Which side are we going to air on: the side that milks the taxpayers further or the side that lets the Board increase the [millage] rate to get the funds that they need to get.”
“Question three: is the school system showing transparency and showing efforts towards the balance of a high quality education and fair taxing of the citizens?” Seabury said. “First, Montgomery County spends more on average per student than most of the state; more money is not the key to providing a high quality education. Homeschooling out performs public schools with far less money.”
He stated that he felt board members were manipulating the public into thinking that they had a voice in matter when he believed that the decision had already been made by the Board to opt out. “In the presentation, it was said, ‘We’ – I’m assuming we is the Board – ‘reached out to officials in November and learned how to make our own tax exemption. We’ – again, I’m assuming the Board – ‘have those steps and are ready to proceed forward in opting out so we can write our own exemption if we choose to go that way.’ In the ad about the hearings, the ad said ‘No official action has been taken yet.’ The presentation seems to say [that] the decision has been made but the formal process has not been completed. While this could be construed as transparency, it is more accurately described – from the citizens – as a political maneuver to do what the Board wants regardless of the free recent voices calling for this exemption.”
He added, “Over 1,200 voters signed a petition recently to ask for an exemption. Secondly, the state legislators provided an exemption where our local leaders refused to, that includes the Board. HB581 was approved by nearly 2/3 of the voters in this county, as well as the entire state. I challenge the Board members to entertain the reality that opting out of HB581 is an act of negligence, that can and will lead to the filing for the removal of the board members on a charge of derelict of duty. The Board is mandated by law to do the will of the people; opting out is going directly against the will of the people. I and others will be sending notice directly to the Secretary of State requesting that any intent to opt out of HB581 from Montgomery County be rejected on the grounds that due process has not been met. The public was not afforded equal time in each hearing to speak about the concerns the presentation raised. The presentation was approximately 20-30 minutes long and each person wanting to speak was limited to 5 minutes each.” Seabury ended his comments by thanking the Board for the chance to speak and then turning to address the local media present. “Please check your spelling and accuracy in quoting me in the paper. The last article about these hearings was not forthcoming and misrepresented me greatly. Thank you for reporting fairly and accurately in the future,” he concluded.
Citizen Mickey Moore then spoke to the Board. “We’ve talked and talked and talked some more about everything that could be done, should be done, whatever – it goes back to we have tried to vote for the homestead exemption through amendments, through the legislature, through voting in the regular election, and we keep running up with the local folks saying, ‘[No], sorry, it isn’t going to happen.’ The commissioners stopped us when we got the petition; y’all chose to opt out when we’re going forward with the actual legislation. So, we are looking at the homestead part of our properties – the house; the core of the family. Y’all are trying to remove the only tax exemption that we got. We don’t get tax exemptions for the rest of it. We are getting a tax exemption for where we’re living at, and you’re trying to put us out of our house,” he said. “You’re trying to put us out because you’re going to tax us to death.”
Moore said that he had seen a discussion on Facebook that emphasized the amount of taxes that had come up over the past few years. “They taxed every thing that we got. They tax our wages, they tax our house, they tax the boats, they tax the property – every little thing that we’ve got, they’re going to put a tax on it. It’s time to stop,” he told the Board.
He stated that he was concerned about the amount of out-of-county students that attend the school without paying tuition, as most other districts require out-ofcounty students to do. He said that based on the current spending of around $17,000 to $18,000 per student, if the school had continued from page
100 out-of-county students, then around $1.7 million was being spent on students from places other than Montgomery County. “That’s a pretty good chunk of change that we’re just giving away that our taxes are paying for,” Moore commented.
Moore spoke on the superintendent’s vehicle that was purchased previously for Former Superintendent Stan Rentz. Superintendent Hightower informed Moore that she did not have a school-provided vehicle.
He also suggested that the school work to maximize their current potential funding by reviewing the amount of delinquent taxes in the county and working to get that revenue.
“I’ve got a little bit hot over this whole thing over the last few weeks and the main reason is it’s my house – it’s a 4th generation house – it’s 150 years old. The darn thing isn’t going to stand forever but my taxes keep going up because the County says it’s worth more, so I have to keep spending more taxes on it. Enough is enough. Y’all figure out a way to work your budget out where you can educate your students but you can do it with what you got,” he concluded.
Citizen and Montgomery County Commissioner Amie Vassey began her public comments by informing the local media that she was speaking as a citizen rather than as a commissioner. “Because I am an elected official does not mean that I forfeit my right as a regular taxpaying citizen of this county to have an opinion [or speak about those opinions],” she emphasized.
“When tyranny becomes law, rebellion becomes duty. That is an idea that was championed by Thomas Jefferson, who is one of the most wellknown American patriots and founding fathers of this nation. Tyranny is the oppressive and unreasonable use of power by government. I don’t know about everybody else in this room, but what the school board is trying to do by opting out of this homestead exemption that we voted for, we asked for, and we want feels pretty unreasonable to me, [and] a lot like oppression,” she told the Board.
She emphasized her support for both the public school system and property tax reform in the county. Vassey told the Board that she felt everyone in the Board room were patriots and wanted to do their “patriotic duty” to pay taxes to fund the school system, but also wanted property tax relief, and emphasized that both things were possible.
“In doing a lot of research, I found nationally, on averages, students can be adequately educated [on the] low side $10,000 per student [and on the] high side $21,000 per student. Our school is sitting at $17,000-$18,000 per student, so we are on the high end of what it costs to educate children. If you look at our budget, based off the lowest amount, we potentially could lose $3 million and still adequately educate the children of Montgomery County,” she continued. “The $1.5 million [of equalization funding] that you are concerned with potentially losing if we move forward with this homestead exemption, still leaves $1.5 million more money in our budget than is actually and truly needed to adequately educate the children in this school system. You’re not going to lose the $1.5 million; you’re yet to give us a dollar amount on what you think [that loss] will be – are you going to lose $1? Are you going to lose half a million? What are you going to lose? We haven’t heard that number yet. But again, there is enough money in this budget to adequately educate the children in this school society.”
Citizen John Porter asked the Board several questions, such as what experts in school law and finance were spoken to, the success of the students, the number of students per class, and the amount of migrant students educated.
“$18,000 a year to educate a kid in a county that they’re not going to stay here – it doesn’t do a bit of good to educate our kids to the level that you say that you’re educating them if they’re not going to stay here,” Porter remarked.
He shared that he felt that teachers were being paid too much at the school, as he said he found that some teachers made 120% of the county’s median income. He also questioned why the school had not put the employee insurance out for bid to search for less costly options.
“One thing I want to make sure you understand: you get money from the [federal government] and the state and local taxpayers – no, you only get money from local taxpayers. The [federal government] and state are still the local taxpayers. I pay the state every year, I pay the [federal government] every year, and I pay local tax every year. It’s all our money. It’s our money. We’re being taxed to death. What are we getting from this?… I appreciate your time but this is going to really, really cause a problem in this county,” he concluded.
Citizen Linda Page shared her past experiences with school boards that left her very untrusting of the bureaucracies, and emphasized the importance of listening to the citizens’ vote to help ensure that people are reassured their votes mattered.
“I’m not saying don’t vote on this thing – I’m saying wait. Wait. Do more. Yes, you’re mandated to have 3 public meetings. Does that keep our trust in school boards when we don’t have any anyways? Does it keep our trust where it should be? If you have until March 1, take until March 1. Do more research. Give these folks [and] me some more answers,” she told the Board. “These people that went to that voting place put their trust in their vote – not you – but their vote. Do we want to take that trust away? You decide.”
Citizen Shawna Sheehan informed the Board that the citizens did not feel supported in the county, as they had asked the county government to create a homestead exemption and filed a petition for a ballot measure, but both efforts had been denied. “We started calling our state representatives and finally, we had someone stand up for us and put it on the ballot for us and just let us vote, which we did, and now, we’re back again and you’re telling us, ‘We’re not going to do it,” she explained. “We’ve been looking into this; we feel the pressure for this. It’s crazy for us to think that at any point, they can raise our taxes 62%. That’s not right and that’s not manageable – we can’t do it; we need some help.”
She continued, “I know you guys have a budget to look at, but we have a budget as well. The difference is [with] your budget, you have some other options; you have some different things that you could do. We don’t have that. What are we going to do? [Get] some more jobs? How much can we work? It’s not that we don’t want to support the school – we do. I feel like we can do both; we need to do both.”
“One of your main goals is to educate the children – it’s not only done at school. It’s done at home as well. If a child gets this great education at school then they come home to a home that can’t afford the things that they need to help support them at home, that’s not right, either. We are a community – we are supposed to work together to get these things done. We have to find the right way to do that,” Sheehan concluded.
Citizen Heather Williams began her address by emphasizing her interest in the decision, as she viewed the issue from more than just the view of a taxpaying citizen. “My name is Heather Williams, and unlike the majority of people who have voiced an opinion at these meetings, my children are actually students at Montgomery County Schools. I am relating to the issue of the homestead exemption from multiple vantage points: as a parent, as a property owner and taxpayer, and as a citizen who has to live in a community our school educates,” she began. “Truthfully, I don’t want to pay any more taxes than absolutely necessary, but I do realize that taxes are necessary to provide any public service, and if you want that service to be done well, it will probably cost more.”
Williams thanked the Board, Superintendent Hightower, and the school staff for being “good stewards” with the public’s money, as she said that through research, she found that the Montgomery County School System was educating students for $2,000 to $3,000 less per student than the surrounding school systems of Toombs, Vidalia, Wheeler, and Treutlen. She also commended the Board for not having any lingering facility debt in their budget, as she shared that new facilities had been completely paid for using the funding offered by the state.
“I will not claim to be the most educated person regarding all of the ins and outs of this legislation. I do know this one fact; the state has allowed only a one-time option to participate or not, and once you are in, you are in permanently. I also know that the condition of our tax assessor’s office has not allowed the school system to work with accurate financial information so that they can determine if it will help, harm, or be neutral to our system’s budget, and that the school can and is planning to provide an exemption that fits our unique circumstances and that can be amended at the local level in the event that our tax revenue stream changes in some way,” she said.
She stated that many other school systems across the state were also opting out, and that Montgomery County could not be compared to many other areas in regards to budge because of fundamental differences. “Our community cannot be compared to urban areas or even systems like Toombs or Vidalia in regards to budget because of the limited resource options available to them. It is imperative that we do not get lumped into a one size fits all legislation that could be detrimental to our students. I know that it is difficult in the face of public opinion to make unpopular opinions that not only affect our current finances but will have far-reaching effects on the school and the taxpayer.”
Williams commended the Board for seeking and sharing knowledge regarding the legislation in an effort to make the best decision for the school, which she stated was what the officials were “elected to do.” She also thanked the Board for “not backing down from what [they] have deemed to be right just to appease the loudest voices that feel that they know more.”
“I am also thankful for the education that my children are receiving at Montgomery County Schools. Although – like all schools – there is room for improvement, I know my children are being prepared to compete on a level playing field with students in other systems. The Board and administration are responsible for creating a healthy and fair environment for my children to learn in. You are not responsible for bringing in industry, searching out new tax revenue streams, or creating jobs. If we lower the standards of education by crowding our classrooms and paying inferior wages, which degrades the quality of our educators, and minimizing the programs that we offer our students, then we won’t have a decent, inviting community for those industries that so many are crying out for,” she concluded.
Young Citizen Abigail Vassey spoke to the Board about the issue which opting out of the homestead exemption may have on her family and her future. “My parents shouldn’t have to work so hard to pay the taxes. They should be able to spend more time with me and my brother other than work. Also, when my parents grow old and want to retire at home or the other home (nursing home), they won’t be able to because there is only so much social security money that they will get in their account. They will have to move in with me and my brother, and it’s really going to be hard on me and my brother because we’ll be paying higher taxes then and we’ll also have to pay for their dinner, their breakfast, their lunch, their clothes, their nurses, [and] their bills,” she explained.
Vassey’s mother, Citizen and Commissioner Amie Vassey, added to the end of her daughter’s comments, as she addressed Williams’ remarks to the Board. “Let me add one thing. My daughter, Abigail, attends the city of Vidalia schools. She does not attend the Montgomery County School System, and my son, Wyatt, also attends the city of Vidalia school system. I make exactly 0 apologies for that; my children go over there as a product of economic deficiencies in our county – we have to work over there; daycare was over there. So, no excuses, no apologies, I love this system – I went here for [kindergarten] through [12th grade], I received an excepcontinued from page
tional education which was able to make me an honor graduate at my college and I’ve had a very successful career due to it. So, I appreciate this school system,” she explained.
Citizen and Former Montgomery County Board of Education Member Fernando Rodriguez also spoke to the Board about the decision. He began by thanking the school system’s staff and administration for educating students regardless of migrant status, race, sex, or disability, “HB581 would provide slight tax relief for the homeowner; however, if some of you don’t know, HB581 is written in a way that makes it difficult to predict the results and if I’m not mistaken, has been amended a couple of times since it was voted on in November. HB581 would limit the money available for our schools, which would affect resources and programs available to our children,” he said.
Rodriguez explained that he had found one rural school system in the state that has calculated they will lose $700,000 in revenue their first year alone with losses following of $3.7 million in a 7-year period. “That is the type of loss that could cripple Montgomery County School System. Opting out will ensure long-term financial stability and flexibility for our district, protecting essential revenue streams necessary for student achievement,” he added.
He also spoke about the amount of out-ofcounty students within the school system, as he stated that most of these students came as a result from staff members that were hired, as many moved their children to the district. “That within itself tells you a lot about these individuals and how they believe in a quality education here at Montgomery County,” he said.
Rodriguez continued, “Many people against opting out don’t even have kids in our school systems; yet, they are vocally trying to shortchange all of the kids in Montgomery County School System. All 3 of my kids go to this school, and I’m here speaking on their behalf as well as mine. They have no voice in the matter, and we are here leaving their education to a group of trusted individuals to assure us that our kids will have a promising education. I’ll be honest, as I look into that crowd, if some people here were board members, I’d be in the same shoes as some people here – I’d have my kids elsewhere because you are sitting here trying to save a few pennies at the cost of my child’s future.”
He commended the Board members who helped in building the new Montgomery County Middle/High School in recent years and leaving no debt for the County to pay. “Those are the type of people that we need being the forefront for our children. Now, the Board has a difficult decision to make, but to me, it seems relatively easy as long as you’re putting our school system and our children first,” he emphasized.
Rodriguez concluded his address by stating that if the Board chose to opt out of this legislation, they would not be alone, as 96 school districts have already decided to opt out and 25 additional districts are considering the decision.
The Board has not commented further on their intentions to opt out of the legislation and is expected to make a decision by the March 1 deadline.
SPEAKING ON BEHALF OF HIS CHILDREN – Citizen and Former Montgomery County Board of Education Member Fernando Rodriguez told the Board that he was speaking to them about HB581 on behalf of his children who had no voice in the decision.Photo by Makaylee Randolph
STUDENTS OF THE MONTH — Sally D. Meadows Elementary has announced Students of the Month for January. These students show pride at Sally Meadows and model how to walk the Brave Way. These students do a great job of representing the PBIS motto and schoolwide expectations: Be Respectful and Value Everyone. (L to R): Back Row: Paighten Herrera, Kade Swancey, Elena Lynn, Annalise Hodge, Chessley Horton, Camila Herrera Herrera, Skylar Willingham, Kinsley Kidd, Abigail Vassey, John Alex Richardson, Avery Higgs, Emma Kate Lindsey Gregory Martin-Carillo; Middle Row: Jackson Avery Richardson, Rosalie Croft, Aria Robinson, Jase Allen, Bailey Conner, Heaven Knowles, Anna Dudley, Sebastian Hernandez, Anna-Kate Gay, Ryleigh Williamson Danayelah Atkins; Front Row: Piper Foster, Ariella Mayo, Hadley Hobbs, Will Shiver, Jeyce Vaughn, Mason Johnson, Alayna Cathcart, Addilyn Williamson, Zamora Durrence, Timothy Jones, and Kyson Zhou. Not Pictured: Taylor Brodus and Timothy Langston.
