ATL Standard

With somewhere in the neighborhood of $5 billion in excess funds now available via a record budget surplus, Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp has announced plans to give almost half of that back to taxpayers.

Kemp noted that this comes as home prices skyrocket across the country, leaving local property tax bills in Georgia hitting homeowners especially hard; a recent FOX 5 Atlanta report said. 

"I believe that isn't the government's money," Kemp told FOX 5 Atlanta. "It's yours and our job isn't to spend it all just because we can … For families struggling to make ends meet, I know that higher bills in the mail can force cutting back on other household necessities. For young Georgians just getting settled into their first home or parents who are sending their kids off to college, unforeseen jumps in property values and local tax bills over the last year only add to the uncertain times that we are in.”

During a recent news conference at the state Capitol, Kemp highlighted plans for another round of approximately $1 billion in income tax rebates that mirror those state lawmakers approved earlier this year; the FOX 5 report said. The governor also stressed that he’s hoping to be able to allocate approximately $1 billion to give property owners a "Georgia Homeowner Rebate," which would pave the way for homeowners to save as much as 25% on their property tax bill—an average in the neighborhood of $500.  

With the proposed legislation still needing approval from state lawmakers, the earliest Georgians could see the governor's proposed tax breaks would be in early 2023; the report said.