Charter changes, taxes and more: Bibb lawmakers prep for Gold Dome business

As Georgia legislators return to the Gold Dome for the start of the legislative session on Jan. 12, Bibb County’s delegation will make decisions on the structure of the Macon-Bibb County government that may impact the county’s future.

Local issues of import include whether to amend the county charter to allow the mayor to serve a third, four-year term; allow Bibb County residents ages 65 and older to be exempt from property taxes on an age-based, tiered structure; and allow voters to decide whether to pay an additional penny-on-the-dollar sales tax to help fund water, sewer and stormwater infrastructure. 

Most of those decisions may wind up on the ballot for voters to decide — should a majority of local legislators agree to it.

Individually, lawmakers’ priorities range from boosting tourism, continuing a push to ban automated school zone speed cameras, plus education, affordable housing and health care initiatives.

The Macon Melody interviewed all members of the Bibb County delegation except for Sen. Rick Williams, R-Milledgeville, who represents District 25. Several messages left for Williams were not returned.

Senate District 18, which includes part of north Macon, Thomaston, Forsyth and Fort Valley, is vacant. The winner of a four-way race on Jan. 20 will take the place of John F. Kennedy, who resigned to run for lieutenant governor.

The map below shows the jurisdictions covered by Macon-Bibb’s senators and representatives. Press the button in the top left of the map to switch between Georgia HoR and Senate maps.

Floyd Griffin, D-Milledgeville, House District 149

Three bills Griffin introduced during the legislative session last year are still on the table. Griffin said none of the pieces of legislation got a hearing and he plans to push forward on moving them through the house.

House Bill 436 would repeal the Georgia Promise Scholarship Act, which allows parents whose children are enrolled in the state’s low-performing schools to receive a $6,500 voucher per child to pay for tuition at a private school, homeschool or other alternatives.

“We didn’t get a hearing on that but I kind of thought through that during the interim,” Griffin told The Melody during a recent phone call. “I want to make it a referendum where the voters may vote ‘yes’ or ‘no’ on whether that law should be repealed or not in November 2026.”

House Bill 40 would require the secretary of state to serve as the chairperson on the state Board of Elections instead of allowing the governor to make that appointment. 

House Bill 203 would require the Georgia Board of Regents to include graduates of historically Black colleges and universities on the board, which oversees the University System of Georgia.

The bill calls for at least one HBCU graduate to be appointed to an at-large seat on the board starting in January 2028 and a second HBCU at-large appointment starting in January 2031.

Tangie Herring, D-Macon, House District 145

Education is one of Herring’s top priorities under the Gold Dome this year. During the legislative session last year, she introduced House Bill 333, which would require the state to update the minimum salary schedule for teachers every year and account for annual inflation and deflation rates.

The bill was heard last February, and it “addresses teacher pay and the growing workforce shortage in education,” Herring told The Melody by phone. “We have too many teachers that are leaving the classroom and fewer young people are seeking teaching as a viable profession right now.”

Herring said competitive pay for educators is a step in the right direction.

“We have to become more competitive with pay and step increases for our veteran teachers as well as some cost of living adjustments so that educators are not forced to work multiple jobs, which they’re doing right now,” Herring said. “We’re the number one state to do business, and our education system should reflect that kind of success across all Georgia zip codes.”

Another priority for Herring is affordable housing.

“That is a crisis across the state, across the country,” Herring said. “I’m sure you know rent has surged across the state, and it kind of puts home ownership out of reach for many Americans and many Georgians. We need to look at some incentives to help support housing for teachers, first responders and working families. It’s important that the next generation can build stability and wealth by becoming homeowners.”

Health care access and affordability is also on Herring’s mind as “many Georgians don’t have health care, and there are hard-working Georgians who can’t afford to see a doctor,” she said. 

“You know, many of my constituents have reached out to me …  they’re asking us to do our job and ensure that they have health care.”

Anissa Jones, D-Macon, House District 143

Boosting tourism for Bibb and Houston counties is on Anissa Jones’s agenda for the upcoming legislative session.

“I sit on the economic development and tourism committee and right now, our tourism budget for Georgia is very low,” Jones said, adding the state spends about $6 million each year while other states are spending as much as $20 million yearly. “The reason why that’s important to me is that I just want to work together so we can create more jobs and opportunities and a strong future for Macon and Houston County.”

More visitors would mean more sales tax revenue, which could help keep property taxes from rising.

“It’s just going to be a tide that rises all boats,” Jones said. “Hopefully the governor will see how tourism is good for Georgia. It’s so good that it has now risen to our second gross national product for the state right behind agriculture.”

Jones also said she would be working hard on “historic taxes which will affect Macon-Bibb greatly as we are using those historic taxes so that people are able to get into properties that they can afford and use the tax rebate to be able to help them facilitate getting their property better.”

If a historic tax credit is awarded but not used, the money comes out of the state’s fund anyway, Jones said. She’d like to change it so the money is reabsorbed back into the fund so “somebody else can take advantage of those resources.”

Health care is also a priority for Jones.

“Our rural counties are suffering greatly because of the talent not being able to go down there because it’s just a lack of opportunity,” Jones said, adding that she met with a couple of medical schools. “They’re very interested in creating partnerships with some of the doctors’ offices that are down there or creating clinics for their students to be able to be out there.”

Jones also plans to continue pushing forward with House Bill 292, legislation she introduced last year that would provide a tax credit for employers who hire people to work for at least one year in new, living-wage jobs that pay at least $15 per hour.

“Small businesses would get allocated a sales tax relief from the state for doing that,” Jones said. “I’m still very passionate about getting that done.”

David Lucas, D-Macon, Senate District 26

One of Lucas’ main priorities this legislative session is to pass a bill that would give taxing powers to the Macon Water Authority, redraw its districts, and reduce the number of mayor and county commission-appointed seats from two to one.

Senate Bill 337 also would increase pay for board members, which include his wife, Elaine Lucas. 

Lucas wants the water authority to be able to institute a 1% sales tax to help pay for water, sewer and stormwater improvements. The tax can exceed the state-capped sales tax.  

The MOST — Municipal Option Sales Tax — has only been used in Fulton County, which includes several cities that rely on the county-operated water infrastructure. The Macon Water Authority has nearly a half billion in deferred maintenance projects, and its main source of revenue comes from ratepayers.

“When you’re doing economic development, they don’t come to the water (authority), they come to the county. But then water is always involved, so the county has to deal with the Macon Water Authority,” Lucas said. 

Lucas also introduced Senate Bill 338, which would amend the county charter and allow the mayor to serve three, four-year terms instead of two terms. 

“You got one of the most aggressive economic plans that I’ve seen in 50 years since I’ve been in the Georgia General Assembly,” Lucas said. “And it does include the Black community, whereas the Black community had been left out of a lot of plans.”

The bill also removes the term limit for county commissioners, which would allow previous commissioners who have served their term limits to be reelected to the board.

“Term limits became a problem when we, as Black folks, started electing folks and kept on electing,” Lucas said, adding that some other nearby municipalities don’t have term limits. “Term limits were put in through consolidation.”

Miriam Paris, D-Macon, House District 142

Housing is one of Paris’ main focuses this session. She said she is working with legislative counsel on several bills to “make purchasing a home more attainable.”

Paris, who serves on the education committee, also said she will reintroduce House Bill 674, which aims to increase financial literacy in school-aged children.

“Right now, if you ask a little child — 5,6,7 years old, ‘Hold a dime in your hand and say what this is,’ they’re going to say, ‘It’s money.’ They generally don’t know that it’s a dime. They don’t know it’s worth 10 pennies. They don’t know it’s worth two nickels,” Paris said. “That’s something we really should have addressed a long time ago.”

Paris said she hopes to get money management classes for fourth- and fifth-graders adopted as part of the state standards for instruction.

“That’s something I’m going to be really aggressive about when we get back into session,” she said.

Dale Washburn, R-Macon, House District 144 

The heated debate over whether to ban revenue-generating, automated school zone speed cameras remains alive and well nearly a year after the legislature adjourned and left two competing bills on the table.

Washburn’s bill, House Bill 225, would prohibit municipalities from contracting with companies for the technology.

Rep. Alan Powell, R-Hartwell, introduced House Bill 651, which would regulate the use of the speed cameras by setting specific hours for their operation and require the use of flashing lights to warn motorists of the radar speed detection ahead.

Washburn said getting his bill passed is his No. 1 priority this year.

He is considering some changes to the legislation and may “try to amend my bill to allow a local referendum,” he said.

Between 2022 and April 2024, the more than 20 speed cameras across Bibb County generated nearly $9 million in revenue for the Macon-Bibb County government. 

Companies like Altumint, with which the county contracts for the cameras, have also made millions from fines paid by speeding motorists. Since a 2018 law allowed cities and counties to use the cameras, the companies profiting from them have spent small fortunes greasing the wheels of politicians via campaign contributions.

“Our people are being victimized by them,” Washburn said of the speed camera companies. “This is nothing about children’s safety. It is all about money being raked in and deceiving our people, and it needs to be stopped.” 

Washburn also noted the cameras disproportionately affect low-income families because administrators of some private schools in more affluent areas had the county remove the cameras from the public roads in front of their schools upon facing outrage from parents who had been cited for speeding.

Administrators of Bibb County public schools don’t have a choice because they all fall under the school superintendent, who agreed to keep them operating. 

“I continue to let the public know that the mayor and the commissioners could do away with these cameras if they wanted to,” Washburn said. “These cameras were implemented by the mayor and the county commissioners. And I personally, as a Bibb County resident and as a member of this delegation, continue to call on them to end these cameras, to cease to operate them in Bibb County.”

Last March, Bibb County Sheriff David Davis stopped signing off on camera company-issued citations because of the apparent “unequal application of the law.” A month later, the sheriff resumed approving citations.

Property taxes are another priority this session for Washburn, who aims to pass three related pieces of legislation.

“I believe our property tax system is unfair and outdated,” Washburn said. “Two complaints we get most often are about assessment values and the steady increase that comes because of those reassessments. And the other is: Why does property tax have to fund our local government operation anyway?”

Washburn said he will continue pushing for a resolution he introduced last year that would allow counties the option to use the purchase price for properties as the assessed value.

That would eliminate the difficult appeals process, he said. 

Another bill Washburn is pushing would give each county the option for a local referendum for a penny-on-the-dollar sales tax that “must be used for property tax rollback,” he said.

“Bibb County and other consolidated governments have the option of adding a penny for rollback,” Washburn noted. “I am proposing that every county [should] have that opportunity to do that.”

A third bill Washburn aims to pass would eliminate school property taxes for homeowners ages 65 and older. 

“They have certainly paid their share and they are entitled now to be exempt from that and to have some protection from that,” Washburn said.