Seniors, childless adults need school tax break

I was talking to some friends the other day, and we were discussing the news that Georgia has a surplus of money. It is good to hear, but how will it help us locally?

Then the idea came into play about the county and state working together to lower the property taxes locally. How? Well, if families who do not have children in school, seniors, handicapped and disabled were given a reprieve from the school taxes, that would lower the property taxes quite a bit. And the state could help with additional income, since it is always stated that they do not give enough money to the schools, so the millage rate must increase almost every year.

I mean, it costs a lot to live in today’s world. But when you get someone who must go from an income that is substantial to a fixed income that is less than before, it makes a big difference. And you have a person who was working every day and making a good living, then wham. There is an unforeseeable incident and that person is disabled and must try to live below the level they are now living.

They must then start making choices on what they really need, what to pay or what not to pay. Should they buy food, medicine, car insurance for transportation that is so desperately needed, or should they pay taxes? And then when they get behind on their taxes, the county acts because there is no hardship relief that I am aware of through the county tax office for such a situation.

They don’t care if there is a hardship. All they want is the money to run the county on. And they need it.

But why does a person have to pay the additional property taxes when they have no children to benefit from the services? Isn’t there a way that the county and the state can work together to get something done for these people? Sometimes it can mean losing their home and property to back taxes just to have the necessities of life.

MARY EGLER

Leesburg