State Sen. Mitch Seabaugh, R-Sharpsburg, who formerly represented part of Peachtree City, wants local governments to be able to choose if they want to use sales taxes to replace property taxes.

The catch is that property taxes would have to be reduced by the amount the sales tax would bring in, Seabaugh said.

“Property taxes will have to be reduced by the amount the consumption tax will bring in,” Seabaugh said in a news release. “The local government cannot exceed that millage rate unless approved by voters in a subsequent referendum.”

If the bill passes the legislature this year with a two-thirds vote of both the Georgia House and Senate chambers, Georgia voters will have the final say on the matter in a November referendum.

Seabaugh said the bill is not intended to create additional revenue for local governments, but to allow them a choice in how taxes are collected.

“This proposal will ensure that local governments can collect the money necessary to function, while taking a clear step to bring more control to the local governments,” Seabaugh said.

Seabaugh’s bill may have a better chance of passing than a proposal from House Speaker Glenn Richardson, who wants to take away the property taxing power of local school boards.

Under Richardson’s proposal, the property tax revenue would be replaced with sales tax revenues, including an elimination of sales tax exemptions, like those for groceries.

Under Richardson’s proposal, the state would collect all the sales taxes and then distribute it to schools, effectively taking all funding control away from local school boards.

Richardson initially wanted his plan to get rid of all property taxes in Georgia, including those levied by cities and counties, but after immense political pressure the proposal was changed to focus on school boards.

Critics of the plan say it takes away the power of local school boards to raise additional money for additional teachers and other needs of the school system that are unfunded by the state. Some critics have also alleged that the state would use the system to redistribute funds from Fayette County, for example, to other school districts in the state.