We’re still trying to redo our tax digest.
The Georgia Department of Revenue is moving to eliminate one excuse that local officials give when they’re raising property taxes: The state made us do it.
The department, at the direction of Gov. Sonny Perdue, is trying to make sure county officials know they don’t have to revalue property [...]

Crystal Freeman got a notice that the taxable value of her Grant Park home jumped from $438,700 to $532,900. She complained that other, larger houses on her street are valued at less.
“I simply do not understand that,” Freeman said. “I can’t understand why mine went up $100,000. If I were to sell, I couldn’t get [...]

I’ve come to the conclusion that the FairTax no longer represents fundamental pro-growth tax reform.
It has taken me awhile to resolve my feelings for the FairTax. Unlike Indy and others, I think the bill would benefit our economy and country greatly. I think it might be one of the few ways out of this [...]

Here is the audio of House Speaker Glenn Richardson blasting Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle during the session yesterday. You can download the classless comments here (1.6 MB)
Here is the transcript:
The chair has a report for you on tax reform. I want to tell you that we’ve now passed the eleven o’clock hour out of abundance [...]

According toJasonPye.com:

[11:58pm] SR 845 did not receive the required majority to pass a constitutional amendment in the Senate
So no tax cut this year, but to tax increase either.

The State House today passed the 10% cut in the income tax that was pushed by Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle…but that’s not all, they also tacked the repeal of the car ad valorem tax back on to the legislation. The two proposal combined cut taxes nearly $2 billion:
On HR 1246, Richardson’s original tax relief plan [...]

When the House leaders started looking at which taxes to cut, or at least when the Speaker did, he initially, I’m told, looked at the income tax. Art Laffer, my tax hero and the man the Speaker wisely relied on, is a fan of cutting the income tax.
Instead, the House decided to cut the [...]

So the rumor I hear from my Gnomes under the Gold Dome Lt. Col. Sheppie is that the Senate has their own tax cut plan they’ll be passing out of Finance tomorrow. They’ll gut the speaker’s proposal and instead institute a 10% cut in the state income tax. Cagle will be speaking on it very [...]

Comes from Earl Ehrhart regarding tax reform.
“They can talk about tax reform just like the Democrats and never do it, or they can do like Ronald Reagan and the Georgia House and actually do it. They’re very Obama-like. Hear me roar, but don’t look and see if I actually did anything.”

Sphere: Related Content

I think Casey and Sonny are tag-teaming on the Glenn GREAT Plan.
From his office comes this statement:
“The House has passed a plan that needlessly delays tax relief for over a year, and doesn’t provide the full amount of relief for two years. Georgia workers are at risk of losing their jobs right now due [...]

The Governor is strongly opposed to the GREAT Plan, or whatever it is presently called, and intends to campaign against it. Also, Dick Pettys reports on the House about to ramp up pressure on the Senate to pass the plan.
UPDATE: The AP is running this across the wire now:
Gov. Sonny Perdue on Thursday [...]

The House is currently debating HR1246. The latest plan (according to the Speaker’s floor speech) is that it would get rid of the car tax, cap reassesments, and add $10 per registration for Trauma Care.
Oh, just as I post this the close debate and voted. Results are: 166-5 getting well beyond the 2/3rds necessary to [...]

No money for tax cuts it would seem.

Gov. Sonny Perdue said Monday the state’s flagging economy is making it necessary to cut millions of dollars from the budget.Perdue said months of sluggish tax collections mean the state may not bring in enough money to meet its budget for the current fiscal year. Instead of dipping [...]

…And Glenn Richardson is giving a pretty angry and rhetoric-filled speech.
Click here to watch the debate live.
The key quote thus far is “For the last year, I have been assailed, maligned, and cursed. I have been the poster boy for anyone who wants to oppose anything.”
Thus sayeth the Speaker of the Georgia House.
[UPDATE 3:51]: [...]

The voter on the Speaker’s Property Tax Reform Amendment is supposed to take place sometime today. As much as it pains me to say it, because I know this is nothing more than the Speaker saving face and I don’t believe the Speaker has the best interest of the taxpayers of Georgia at heart, this [...]