Tax reform fever may soon strike the Georgia legislature.
The joint House and Senate revenue structure commission, set up last year by state lawmakers, will soon unveil a proposal to cut local school property taxes in Georgia, replacing the lost revenues with increased sales and income taxes.
According to legislators familiar with the work of the 21-member commission, recommendations could include cutting by 50% the statutory 20-mill limit on school property taxes. Proposed offsets might include a one-cent increase in the state's sales tax, currently at 6%, and extension of the tax to cover services.
Increased personal and corporate income taxes might also be proposed as a counterbalance to reduced property taxes.
An initial proposal will probably be submitted shortly after the Nov. 8 elections. Any tax changes would have to be approved in a legislative session and signed by the state's governor. The regular session does not begin until January 1995.
A similar bill in South Carolina earlier this year was narrowly defeated.
