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Ballot referendum ties assessments to inflation rate By ZOE SEILER zoe@appenmedia.com METRO ATLANTA — Voters will decide whether to enact a number of statewide ballot measures aimed at relieving sticker shock on property taxes. One ballot question is a constitutional amendment for a statewide floating homestead exemption that would essentially cap property assessments at the inflation rate. House Bill 581 creates the homestead exemption and a new local option sales tax. It will go into effect on Jan. 1, 2025, only if the referendum on House Resolution 1022, which is also known as Amendment 1, is approved by voters in November. Election Day is Nov. 5. The ballot question would give the Legislature the constitutional authority to offer this homestead exemption. The question says: “Shall the Constitution of Georgia be amended so as to authorize the General Assembly to provide by general law for a state-wide homestead exemption that serves to limit increases in the assessed value of homesteads, but which any county, consolidated government, municipality, or local school system
See BALLOT, Page 13
CITY OF MILTON/PROVIDED
Members of the Milton Historical Society and Public Works Department are all smiles after putting up one of the first signs, labeling Chicken Creek as it crosses the Dinsmore Road bridge, last month. With four signs up on each side of two city bridges, the grassroots initiative is underway.
Look out below
City, nonprofit partner to identify, sign Milton’s local waterways By HAYDEN SUMLIN hayden@appenmedia.com MILTON, Ga. — Signs labeling two Milton waterways, Chicken and Cooper Sandy creeks, are scheduled to go up on both sides of 19 bridges across the city. Through a partnership between the city and the Milton Historical Society, four of the 38 wayfinding signs were installed in mid-September. City/Milton Communications Coordinator Oksana Solovei wrote that the aim of the joint initiative is to make
motorists more aware of their natural surroundings, specifically the creeks that have been vital to human and animal life in the region for centuries. Milton Historical Society Board member Jim Farris, who brought the idea for creek wayfinding at bridges to the city in the spring, said he’s excited that the first batch of signs are installed. “Historically, the creeks were important to this area,” Farris said. “Not only did they provide water, but they also served as landmarks, describing locations and identifying
boundaries.” Farris said he’s been driving around the city for 27 years. Every time he passes over a bridge, he calls out the name of the creek below. “One day, I realized, ‘Hey we should be putting signs up,’” he said. “There was a lot of controversy about whether Cooper Sandy is the right name of the creek.” Farris said historical maps labeled the creek Copper or Cooper Sandy, and it required extensive research to
See MARKERS, Page 16
Caroline Nalisnick C: 404.513.9226 | Caroline@HOMEgeorgia.com
Sam DiVito C: 404.803.5999 | Sam@HOMEgeorgia.com
Allison Kloster C: 404.784.5287 | Allison@HOMEgeorgia.com