The bill would allow voters to decide in 2010 whether to boost the state homestead exemption from $2,000 to $4,000.
Georgia Republican leaders have pitched it as a much needed "stimulus package" for homeowners. And state Rep. Jan Jones, R-Alpharetta, described it as a "little cost of living adjustment" for a state rule that hadn't been touched since 1937.
But it ran headlong into fierce opposition from Georgia's Democratic minority for the second time this month. The Democrats denied the measure the two-thirds majority it needed when it came up earlier this month, and voted on similar margins Wednesday to reject it by a 109-63 vote.
The homestead exemption is subtracted from the taxable value of a house, effectively reducing the owner's tax bill.
The effort to double the homestead exemption is one of several property tax bills pending in the Georgia Legislature this year.
The House and Senate have both already adopted measures that would prevent cities and towns from increasing homeowners' property assessments for the next two years. The plan could be sent to Gov. Sonny Perdue's desk once the two chambers hash out minor differences.
And lawmakers have already signed off on a plan that could scrap a state-funded property tax break worth about $200 to $300 per household in years when the economy is ailing.
Democrats said those tax breaks, coupled with the bid to double the statewide exemption, would put a tremendous burden on city governments, county commissions and school boards already faced with tight budgets during the economic downturn.
"Once again we're passing the buck down to our local communities," said House Minority Leader DuBose Porter of Dublin. "And that will result in a couple of things: Higher millage rates and cuts in education."
Other Democratic critics adopted the same theme. State Rep. Lee Thompson, D-Lawrenceville, worried the combined tax breaks could cost Gwinnett County's school system - the state's largest - about $60 million.
"Somehow we have the idea that our counties, our city governments, our school boards aren't fiscally responsible," said Thompson. "But those folks have the right to make their own decisions, and those folks shouldn't have those decisions be made by this body."
Disappointed Republican sponsors pitched it as a simple measure to help Georgia residents cope with a foreclosure crisis.
"An unprecedented economic crisis faces us today," said House Majority Leader Jerry Keen. "And what we're trying to do in Senate Bill 83 is to allow your voters, your neighbors, your family and your friends in your district that opportunity to realize a very modest but needed break in their property taxes."
The House vote came as the Senate is scheduled to consider tax breaks to encourage companies to hire new employees. Those breaks were adopted easily this month in the House.
