Atlanta partner on Columbus, Georgia, property tax assessment freeze sunset
Regulatory Compliance and Government Litigation practice group leader and Atlanta partner Chuck Palmer was mentioned in a January 29 Columbus Ledger-Enquirer article about Columbus, Georgia’s, mayor clarifying the legal mechanism by which her proposed property tax assessment freeze sunset would be accomplished.
The mayor’s clarification was in response to a column by a freelance journalist’s article that ran in the paper a few days earlier, where the journalist wrote that the freeze could not be amended and could not be repealed without a statewide referendum.
“It is my understanding there has been some suggestion that a referendum on the repeal of the subject homestead assessment freeze would be placed on the ballot statewide,” Palmer was quoted as saying in a legal opinion referenced in the article. “While such would be the case with respect to a constitutional amendment with statewide ramifications…referenda on local constitutional amendments are subject to more limited requirements…. Therefore, in this instance, a referendum would be held only in Columbus-Muscogee County, not statewide.”