FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
September 27, 2005

ATLANTA – House Majority Leader, Rep. Jerry Keen (R-St. Simons Island) announced that the Education Funding Study Committee will host its final public hearing regarding the Education Sales Tax proposal, which is proposed legislation to dramatically cut property tax bills and restructure how education is financed in Georgia.  The meeting will take place on Wednesday, September 28, at 7:00 p.m. in Roswell, GA. 

The Education Funding Study Committee will meet to discuss legislation known as HR 58, which proposes replacing the school portion of local property tax bills with a statewide Education Sales Tax of up to 3 percent.  This would eliminate more than half of all property taxes in Georgia, proposed legislation to dramatically cut property tax bills and restructure how education is financed in Georgia.

The public hearing will take place at the Roswell Cultural Arts Center.  Originally, the committee had scheduled the event to be held at the Dorothy Benson Center in Sandy Springs. But due to the large turnouts at the meetings in Columbus, Tifton, and Savannah, the Majority Leader decided that the committee needed to find another location that would accommodate the public’s ability to participate in the legislative process.

“Since rising property taxes are of such concern to Georgia taxpayers, Georgians have been encouraged to learn about this initiative, and to attend the meetings being held this summer to examine the way we fund our state’s education system,” said Rep. Keen.  “This is an opportunity to make education funding fair to all Georgians while giving our economy a tremendous boost, and the turnouts for the past three meetings are show that Georgians are ready for property tax relief.”

For additional information, contact Rep. Keen’s office at 404-656-5052.