(GEORGIA) — Georgia House lawmakers passed HB 1116 on Crossover Day, advancing a Republican-backed plan to limit how fast local property tax bills and local sales taxes can rise and setting up a high-stakes push for Senate action as the legislative session enters its final stretch.

Speaker Jon Burns, the Georgia House Speaker, defended the scaled-back overhaul at a press conference at the State Capitol on Monday, March 10, 2026, after a dramatic late-night push to meet the Crossover Day deadline.

HB 1116 caps annual property tax increases at 3 percent or the rate of inflation, whichever is higher, and places a 5 percent cap on local sales taxes. The bill moved after a more sweeping overhaul failed earlier in the week.

Burns framed the package as a response to homeowner anxiety over fast-rising tax bills and as part of a broader effort by House Republicans to curb local tax growth while keeping pressure on other cost-of-living issues lawmakers say they want to tackle this year.

Passage in the House does not make the plan law, and the timing now matters as the bill heads to the Senate for consideration during the closing weeks of the 2026 legislative session.

Burns described property tax volatility as a political and household-budget problem that has built over multiple years, pointing to how rising valuations can translate into higher tax bills across communities.

Property valuations have skyrocketed over several years while millage rates remained stagnant or increased, Burns said, and he pointed to some local governments approving property tax increases ranging from 6 percent to upwards of 158 percent in a single year.

That run-up, Burns argued, has created conditions in which homeowners can face sharp swings from one year to the next, even as lawmakers face competing demands from local governments that rely on property taxes to fund services.

HB 1116 takes a broad approach that combines limits on annual growth in property tax increases with restrictions on local sales tax growth, placing two different revenue levers in the same legislative package.

On the property tax side, the bill’s central mechanism is a year-to-year cap designed to limit how much a property tax bill can climb annually, tied to inflation and applying on an annual basis rather than rewriting how local governments set their tax rates. Supporters have presented that approach as a way to reduce sudden spikes while still allowing growth within set limits.

For counties, cities, and school systems, the change would add another constraint as officials weigh budgets and rate decisions, potentially forcing harder choices among spending cuts, alternative revenue options, or changes to how often and how sharply rates rise. Burns did not detail how any specific local government would respond, but he tied the bill to pressure created when valuations climb and local budgets follow.

The 5 percent cap on local sales taxes fits into the same push to restrain local tax growth, linking property tax relief to a broader argument that limiting one form of taxation can affect decisions around others. Burns described HB 1116 as scaled back compared to earlier proposals, after a more sweeping overhaul failed earlier in the week.

Even as HB 1116 moved forward, Burns said the House would also put forward legislation enabling the elimination of the homestead property tax statewide, a separate track that differs from capping annual increases.

Burns emphasized that the homestead property tax proposal aims at preventing homeowners from being priced out of their homes by rising valuations, presenting it as a structural change rather than a limit on how fast bills can increase.

The contrast between the two approaches sits at the center of the debate: caps focus on limiting growth from one year to the next, while elimination would remove a category of taxation for qualifying homeowners if enacted as described.

Burns tied the escalation of the debate to the interaction of valuations and millage decisions, arguing that homeowners can face higher taxes as values rise over multiple years, with local rate decisions either holding steady or moving upward at the same time.

Those pressures have intersected with local actions that Burns cited as unusually large year-over-year increases, including the range he described as 6 percent to upwards of 158 percent in a single year, adding urgency for lawmakers who say taxpayers want predictability.

Supporters of caps have argued that limits can restrain sudden growth, but the approach can also shift pressure onto other revenue sources or force spending choices at the local level, because local governments still have to balance budgets and meet service demands.

Burns presented the property tax push alongside a broader set of Republican priorities for 2026, including rebates, income tax reductions, and policy measures that House leaders say address education, insurance, and housing costs.

HB 1000 would provide a one-time tax rebate of $250 for single filers and $500 for married couples filing jointly, returning an estimated $1 billion to Georgia taxpayers, Burns said.

House Republicans also want to continue lowering Georgia’s state income tax rate to 3.99 percent in the coming years, Burns said, casting the target as part of a longer-term effort rather than a one-session change.

Beyond tax policy, Burns highlighted the Georgia Early Literacy Act, which would place literacy coaches in elementary schools across the state, and he pointed to insurance reform proposals intended to increase accountability for insurance companies and lower policyholder costs.

Burns also said the House would address housing affordability by cutting through government red tape and reducing regulatory barriers that drive up housing costs.

He linked the tax measures to household affordability and argued that reducing the tax take leaves residents better positioned to manage rising costs, saying: “The money belongs to the people in our state, not the government. When Georgians keep more of the money they’ve earned, everything becomes more affordable.”

With HB 1116 now in the Senate’s hands and other proposals moving on separate tracks, Burns’ message on the final stretch of the session centered on the same theme he used to defend the property tax agenda: a push to restrain government’s claim on paychecks and property as valuations and living costs rise.