Pierce County Tax Commissioner (Nicole Scurry): the county’s own floating homestead freeze the board kept over House Bill 581, whose own pages print no veteran row - the amounts rest on the State entries

The county's own route. The county's Tax Commissioner page seats the office: "Nicole Scurry, Tax Commissioner, P.O. Box 192, 312 Nichols Street, Suite 4, Blackshear, GA 31516, t: 912.449.2026, f: 912.449.2006", and its questions print the filing route: "Do I get an exemption from some assessed value and a reduction in taxes because I own a home and live in it? Yes. This is known as a homestead exemption. Applications for homestead exemptions in Pierce County are accepted year-round, at the Board of Assessors Office. However applications must be filed by April 1 in order to obtain the exemption for the current year. Applications filed after April 1 will result in the exemption being applied the next year." The Tax Commissioner's own site, piercegatax.com, carries the same constitutional-officer text - "Nicole Scurry, Tax Commissioner" - and its General Information page prints tax bills "normally due December 20th of each year on real and personal property". No Disabled Veterans row is printed on either site, so the county's own veteran amounts are the State's: the Disabled Veterans Homestead Exemption of O.C.G.A. 48-5-48 at its yearly indexed amount and the surviving-spouse exemption of 48-5-52.1 (the State entries carry both). The floating homestead the board kept. The board's February 26, 2025 public hearing (the minutes seat Chairman Neal Bennett, Commissioner Troy Mattox, Commissioner Randy Dixon and Commissioner David Lowman, with Commissioner Graham Raley absent, and staff "Raphel Maddox, County Manager; Donna Golding, County Clerk; Adam Craft, County Attorney") carried "Discussion of HB 581 Intent to Opt Out of Homestead Exemption" and the county's own exemption: "Current local floating exemption - If you are a homeowner and claimed homestead exemption for the previous year you may be eligible to freeze the taxable value of your primary residence and up to 5 acres of land on which the primary residence is located at the prior year value. This exemption is for County and School tax purposes and does not freeze any taxable values for State or City tax purposes." The February 27, 2025 called meeting carried the adoption: "Discussion and adoption of HB 581 Intent to Opt Out of Homestead Exemption - Commissioner Randy Dixon asked for a motion to adopt the opting out of HB 581 Homestead Exemption. Commissioner David Lowman made a motion to adopt the resolution to opt out of the HB 581 State Homestead Exemption. Commissioner Troy Mattox seconded the motion. The motion carried." County Chief Appraiser Bill Rozier "stated that the current local homestead exemption is the best of the two exemptions. Mr. Rozier encouraged everyone to go to the office to find out if they have a homestead exemption and see if they qualify for any other exemption." The veteran rows above are separate from the floating exemption, which continues as the county's homestead regime.