(MARCH 8, 2024) -- Voters in Cherokee County will not see a referendum on the ballot this fall for the Homestead Local Option Sales Tax.
During a meeting of the Cherokee Legislative Delegation March 7, a motion to put forth the local legislation during the current General Assembly stalled for lack of a second.
The Board of Commissioners approved a resolution in February requesting that the General Assembly put a referendum on the November ballot to allow voters the opportunity to decide if they would like to implement a 1 percent HOST to offset the county maintenance and operations portion of property tax bills and help fund road improvements.
The resolution was a result of a series of town hall meetings where Chairman Harry Johnston presented several options: a HOST, a LOST (Local Option Sales Tax), a T-SPLOST (Transportation Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax) or none of the above. Cherokee County is one of three counties in Georgia without a sales tax to offset property taxes – Cobb and Gwinnett are the other two.
Over the course of the seven meetings, the majority of those in attendance were in favor of a HOST. County leadership projected that a HOST would fully eliminate the county M&O property tax for homeowners who have the homestead exemption, reduce the county M&O property tax by about 39 percent for other types of property and provide an increase of almost 25 percent in the county’s average annual road improvement budget.
During the meeting Thursday in Atlanta, some Delegation members indicated they did not favor a 1 percent sales tax, which would be applied to items like groceries and pharmaceuticals.
Hotel/Motel Tax approved by Delegation
The Legislative Delegation approved a measure that increases the hotel/motel excise tax for unincorporated Cherokee County from 6 percent to 8 percent. The Delegation’s approval shows its intention to introduce local legislation during the current General Assembly for adoption. It’s common for local legislation to move quickly under the Gold Dome.
Last month, the Board of Commissioners approved a resolution seeking the increase in hotel/motel tax to bring Cherokee County in line with other jurisdictions like Woodstock, Canton, Alpharetta, Roswell, Cobb County and Bartow County, all of which are at 8 percent. If approved by the General Assembly, the increase in hotel/motel tax would only apply to the hotels, motels and short-term rentals in unincorporated Cherokee County.
The hotel/motel tax partially funds the Northside Cherokee Conference Center at the Bluffs and also is utilized by the Chamber of Commerce and Office of Economic Development. The intention of increasing the hotel/motel tax in unincorporated Cherokee County is to further support these organizations and add others like History Cherokee, as well as fund a wayfinding signs project, beautification projects on interstates or key intersections, and possibly provide additional funding for recreation and parks operations. Increasing the rate from 6 percent to 8 percent is expected to bring in an additional $200,000 a year. In 2023, revenue from the hotel/motel tax was $644,215.
