County officials worried after Governor Perdue freezes property tax relief

Governor Sonny Perdue's move to freeze a $428 million grant program for property tax relief for homeowners is creating controversy.

It's another way he's looking to reduce spending because of the state's budget shortfall.

Counties typically send bills for the discounted rates and then replenish that amount with the grant in their budget.

But Perdue says local governments are using the money to fatten their coffers while raising property taxes.

His decision to freeze the grants is causing problems for local governments.

The Augusta-Richmond commission and school board, for instance, were expecting close to $3 million each.

"We've got a budget to balance too. And this year, we balanced our budget based on the promise of that $3.1 million and that particular grant that's been frozen," says Fred Russell, Augusta's city administrator.

Richmond and several other counties across the state are sending out tax bills that still reflect the reduced tax.

How counties will make up the loss, if the grants are still frozen, is unclear.