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 Homeowners will get relief from their fast-rising property tax bills and may even see tax cuts if Gov. Brian Kemp signs Senate Bill 33 into law.

But many other constituencies stand to lose, including one that cannot vote: children in public schools.

Local governments and schools collect the money they need to pay for operations using a simple formula: property values established by county assessors multiplied by tax rates set by each city council, county commission or school board.

SB 33 would arrest half of that formula by limiting increases in taxable home values to the rate of inflation.

Cities, counties and schools could simply bump the other variable in the formula, bringing in more revenue by raising the tax rate, also known as the millage rate.

That might not be politically popular, but it would keep the lights on.

There is a catch for schools, though: nearly all of Georgia’s 180 school districts are limited to a maximum rate of 20 mills under the state constitution.

So, the most that they can collect is $20 per $1,000 of assessed value.

Some districts would begin to see cost increases outpacing revenue increases in just a few years, said Justin Pauly, spokesman for the Georgia School Boards Association.

“It’s definitely going to squeeze things,” he said.

School districts are powerless to contain two big drivers of rising costs, he said. Teachers get two benefits that the locals must pay into at rates set by the state: a pension and health insurance.

Health insurance costs have risen 20% to 30% in the past half decade, said John Zauner, executive director of the Georgia School Superintendents Association.

If Kemp signs SB 33 into law, Zauner expects pockets of school districts around the state to begin laying off teachers in a few years.

Personnel costs account for 90% of a typical school budget, Zauner said. “How do you save money when 90% of your budget is personnel cost? You go to the personnel to reduce your costs.”

That, in turn, would mean more students per teacher, affecting teaching quality, he said.

SB 33 arrests costs for owner-occupied homes, so rural and primarily residential areas that lack industry would get hit first.

Also, most school systems are already near the maximum tax rate, with the state average at 15 mills.

At least five school districts already had tax rates set between 19 and 20 mills by 2024, including Clayton, Fayette and Gwinnett counties in metro Atlanta, according to Zauner’s count. Two others were Dublin City and Wilkinson County, both near Macon.

A handful of others had already reached or exceeded the 20-mill cap, but they are exempt owing to peculiarities in the constitution, Zauner said. Many of those are also in metro Atlanta, including the systems for DeKalb and Rockdale counties and for the cities of Atlanta and Decatur. Muscogee County, where Columbus is the county seat, is in that group, as well.

Many constituencies besides students would lose if SB 33 were to become law. The taxable value of properties that are not owner-occupied would be allowed to continue outpacing inflation, so apartments, factories, restaurants, stores and offices would see no benefit.

Also, SB 33 would allow a new penny sales tax to further offset the property tax burden for homeowners in counties that approve such a tax by referendum.

So, the burden of paying for parks, police, roads — and schools — could shift further from homeowners, while the overall economy carried the cost.